NCJ Number
140363
Date Published
1991
Length
80 pages
Annotation
The purpose of this study was to develop a comparative profile of women and men who sexually abused children.
Abstract
The study sample consisted of 75 male caretaker offenders randomly drawn from the Iowa Child Abuse Registry, 65 female caretaker offenders from the Iowa and Missouri Child Abuse Registries, and 8 female offenders in treatment programs for sexually abusive women in the Minneapolis area. All offenders participated in a 2-hour interview that included both verbal and written questions covering demographics, substance abuse, antisocial behavior, family background and relationships, child sexual abuse patterns and perceptions, and the investigation experience and its legal consequences. Female offenders had a lower income and occupational status than male offenders. Females were more likely to be unemployed or engaged in part-time work, and they were less residentially stable. Female offenders also tended to experience harsher childhoods, including more physical and emotional abuse and more criticism from their parents. Female offenders differed little from male offenders in marital instability, although females appeared to be less satisfied with their marital partners. Female offenders seemed to have higher needs for emotional and sexual need fulfillment than male offenders. Further, female offenders were more likely to have a history of being sexually victimized as children. Fewer female than male offenders were willing to admit acts of sexual abuse; consequently, it was difficult to determine if female offenders committed fewer and less intrusive forms of sexual violence on children. An interview protocol summary is appended. 74 references and 41 tables