Content area
Full text
This article describes a clinical sample of 40 women who sexually abused 63 children. Sixty percent of the female perpetrators victimized two or more children. Almost three-fourths of these women sexually maltreated children in polyincestuous family situations. More than four-fifths were mothers to at least one of their victims. The most common form of sexual activity was group sex; the next most common was fondling.
The mean age of these women was a little over 26; they were poor and poorly educated. Their victims were also young, having a mean age of 6.4 years at the time the case was identified. About two-thirds of the victims were female and one-third were male.
Female perpetrators evidenced marked difficulties in psychological and social functioning. About half had mental problems, both retardation and psychotic illness. More than half had chemical dependency problems, and close to three-fourths had maltreated their victims in other ways in addition to the sexual abuse.
As our awareness and knowledge of child sexual abuse increases, so does a concern about female perpetrators. Early case studies of sexual victimization suggested that sex offenses by women were extremely rare (Finkelhor & Russell, 1984; Herman, 1981; Lukianowicz, 1972; Meiselman, 1978; Weiner, 1964), and clinical reports described these women as highly disturbed (Herman, 1981; Mayer, 1983), often psychotic (Justice & Justice, 1979; Mathis, 1972; Mayer, 1983). As the number of reported cases of sexual abuse has increased, more situations involving female perpetrators have been identified (Finkelhor & Russell, 1984; McCarty, 1986). Thus far, however, little work has been directed toward understanding women who sexually abuse children. In fact, in a literature search, only one such study could be found. That was the work of McCarty (1986), who examined case records of 26 sexually abusive mothers referred to a treatment program. Those women represented 4% of the offenders in the program.
Nevertheless, the true extent of sexual abuse by women remains an issue of controversy. Groth (1979) has argued that reported cases involving female perpetrators represent only a tip of the iceberg. Because victims of female offenders are more likely to be male and intrafamilial (characteristics assumed to be associated with failure to disclose), Groth contends that they underreport their sexual experiences with women. In addition, Groth asserts...