Featuring a collection of essays by leading experts, Female Sexual Offenders: Theory, Assessment and Treatment is the first book to bring together current research, clinical assessment, and treatment techniques of female sexual offenders into one accessible volume. Describes the most recent research data regarding female sexual offenders, covering such issues as female-perpetrated sexual abuse prevalence and juvenile offenders Includes an assessment of the risk of recidivism, international treatment initiatives, and a discussion on the use of the polygraph with female sexual offenders Features practitioner-focused essays which evaluate current assessment strategies, treatment needs, effectiveness, and processes for female sexual offenders

This unprecedented look at female sexual predators explains why and how they prey on our children and youths and what adults—and children and youths themselves—should understand to prevent victimization. In Female Sexual Predators: Understanding and Identifying Them to Protect Our Children and Youths, social worker and therapist Karen A. Duncan helps adults be proactive so children will not fall prey to this violation. Vignettes pulled from news headlines and interviews with female sexual predators Duncan has encountered in her own practice are used to help readers understand these crimes and the women who commit them, as well as the impact these crimes can have on victims. The women profiled were in positions of authority at churches, schools, sports institutions, and the home. Victims explain how these women exploited their positions of trust, planned their crimes, groomed their victims, deceived adults into not detecting their behavior, and how they did not stop even when they recognized the danger and the harm to themselves and their victims. Duncan addresses the issue of maternal sexual abuse answering questions about mothers who willingly sexual abuse their own children and at times commit child sexual abuse with other adults, as well as women who sexually abuse girls. Four types of female sex offenders are presented within the emerging research on this topic, along with questions regarding assessment, treatment, and management of female sex offenders in the community. It also addresses the controversial issues of female pedophilia and female sexual deviance within the context of what we know about human sexuality.

The issue of child sexual abuse has gained widespread attention over the last three decades, but minimal attention has been paid to sexual abuse by women. Victims of female sex offenders have been virtually ignored or neglected from serious study. Consequently we have little knowledge of the experience of victims or of professional perspectives on female sex offending. Myriam Denov fills these critical gaps in the literature by examining the life histories and experiences of both male and female victims of female sex offenders, and by investigating the impact and consequences of the sexual abuse. She also explores professional responses to female sex offending and the ways in which police officers and psychiatrists have understood, portrayed and managed such cases. In addition to filling the substantial empirical void that surrounds the issue, the book contributes to policy and practice issues relating to victims and to the training of different professional groups involved in child sex abuse.

This courageous and powerful book is a first step in addressing the secrecy, distress, anger, and fear surrounding female sexual abuse of children. Refuting the rationales for our lack of attention to the problem and contradicting some commonly held beliefs about sexual abuse, it combines accounts from survivors with input from professionals working with both survivors and abusers. Part I presents contributions from professionals who discuss aspects of female sexual abuse ranging from impact and treatment issues for victims of childhood sexual abuse by female perpetrators to the paradox of women who sexually abuse children. The second part is devoted to survivors--it presents stories from both men and women, then provides self-help guidelines for both. The book concludes with a valuable section on resources which includes a review of the existing literature on female child molestation as well as a listing of pertinent books and help organizations. FEMALE SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN also addresses the controversial issue of current statistics that show that female sexual abuse is very rare and the question of whether it is being underreported due to fear from survivors that they will not be believed or supported. Regardless of the true magnitude of this problem, secrecy or denial about any aspect of child abuse must be avoided. Whatever future studies may show about this problem, it will not diminish this book's importance in taking the step of exploring this issue.

This book organizes existing knowledge on female sexual abusers, explores their backgrounds, methods of abuse and the impact on victims. It begins with a fictional account of the development of a girl into an offender, based on actual experiences described by female sex offenders to researchers and therapists. Subsequent chapters discuss the incidence of female sexual offending and social reluctance to recognize it, and the treatment options for offenders.