Women Who Sexually Abuse Children

Until recently, the topic of female sexual offenders remained under-researched, and many incorrect assumptions and beliefs still surround the subject. This book is organised in to five parts around eleven chapters. It provides a comprehensive overview of the latest research in this often overlooked area and discusses both adult female offenders and adolescents/younger children who commit sexual offences against children. After an in-depth evaluation of research literature, the author then considers a range of treatment approaches and directions for future research.

Foreword ix Acknowledgements xii Introduction 1 Part I: The Nature and Prevalence of Sexual Abuse by Women and Our Understanding of it 1 The Prevalence of Sexual Abuse by Women 7 2 How is Sexual Abuse by Women Conceptualised and Understood? 17 3 The Nature of Child Sexual Abuse Committed by Women 25 Part II: Contextualising Sexual Abuse by Women 4 Potentially Relevant Factors in Sexual Abuse by Women 37 5 Male Coercion of Females into Sexually Abusive Behaviour 47 6 What Might MotivateWomen to Sexually Abuse Children? 57 Part III: The Consequences of Sexual Abuse by Women 7 Is Sexual Abuse by Women Harmful? 69 Part IV: Furthering Our Understanding and Developing Work in this Field 8 Aspects of Female Offending in Need of Further Research 93 9 Intervening with Female Abusers: Treatment Needs, Methods and Outcomes 111 Part V: Widening Our Focus 10 Mothers who are Partners of Male Offenders: are they Collusive and therefore Abusive? 129 11 Female Adolescents and Children who Sexually Abuse 149 Concluding Thoughts 167 References 171 Index 189