Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice

Advisor

Steven Hecht

Committee Member

Jennifer Allen

Committee Member

Chad Waxman

Committee Member

Marcelo Castro

Keywords

child pornography, child sexual abuse material, childhood sexual abuse, co-offending, criminal justice system, female sex offender, female sex offender typology, Florida, Florida penal code, human trafficking, incarceration, incest, offender behavior, offender classification, offender typology, offense patterns, public health issue, research gaps, sex offender typology, sexual abuse, sexual abuse images, sexual offenses, victim-related variables, victims

Abstract

Despite being labeled as a “public health issue,” accounting for more than 2.5 million child victims in the United States annually, data regarding female-perpetrated sexual abuse is sparse (Bensel, et al., 2019; Anderson, et al., 2022). Researchers agree that literature on female sex offenders (FSOs) is notably lacking (DeCou, et al., 2015; Vandiver, et al., 2018; Ghossoub & El Harake, 2023). While there may be some similar behaviors between FSOs and their male-offender counterparts, researchers agree that FSOs (motivation, behaviors, etc.) are substantially different and should be examined closely to help professional progress in their ability to educate, identify, assess, manage, and treat this offender population (Saradijan, 2010; McLeod, 2015; Denov, 2016; Kramer, 2017; Smith & Gacono, 2021). Of the reported offenses, FSOs comprise up to one-fifth of sexual offenses; however, FSOs make up approximately one percent of incarcerated offenders. This indicates that a large offender population that has gone undetected, and there is a breakdown in the criminal justice system that could be due to the massive lack of understanding of FSOs and/or victims remaining silent (Hislop, 2001; McLeod, 2015; Motz, et al., 2020).

The most comprehensive FSO typology was created as a result of Vandiver and Kercher’s landmark 2004 study, containing six subcategories of FSO types: the heterosexual nurturer, the noncriminal homosexual, the female sexual predator, the young adult child exploiter, the homosexual criminal, and the aggressive homosexual offender. Sandler and Freeman (2007) attempted to replicate the study and instead created a new (and significantly different) FSO typology, also containing six subcategories: the criminallylimited hebephile (similar to Vandiver and Kercher’s heterosexual nurturer), the criminally-prone hebephile, the young adult child molester (similar to Vandiver and Kercher’s young adult child exploiter), the high-risk chronic offender, the older nonhabitual offender, and the homosexual child molester.

The proposed study seeks to shed light upon FSOs and fill some of the research gaps by examining current FSO in Florida, similar to the Vandiver and Kercher (2004) and Sandler and Freeman (2007) studies, with updated information regarding offense patterns and victim-related variables, and further define offender typology. The study will consider changes and/or differences in the Florida penal code and offender behavior over the last 15 years. These updates and new variables are expected to influence the outcome of the proposed study, and potentially add a new FSO typology for consideration.

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