Offender and Victim Characteristics of Registered Female Sexual Offenders in Texas: A Proposed Typology of Female Sexual Offenders

Abstract

Victim and offender characteristic of all registered adult female sexual offenders in Texas (N = 471) were examined. The most common offenses the females were arrested for were indecency with a child--sexual contact, sexual assault on a child, and aggravated sexual assault on a child. The majority (88%) of the females were Caucasian and the ages ranged from 18 to 77 (M = 32). The results of Hierarchical Loglinear Modeling yielded a complex relationship between offender and victim characteristics; thus, identification of preferred victims is mitigated by more than one variable. Additionally, the employment of cluster analysis yielded 6 types of female sexual offenders. The most common group includes 146 offenders, heterosexual nurturers. They were the least likely to have an arrest for a sexual assault. The victims were males who averaged 12 years of age. The other types of offenders included, noncriminal homosexual offenders, female sexual predators, young adult child exploiters, homosexual criminals, and aggressive homosexual offenders.

Typology of Female Sex Offenders: A Test of Vandiver and Kercher

“…Although there have been other attempts at devising female sex offender typologies (see Ferguson & Meehan, 2005;McCarty, 1986;Sarrel & Masters, 1982;Syed & Williams, 1996), the most comprehensive typology scheme was recently developed by Vandiver and Kercher (2004). Utilizing a sample of all 471 female sex offenders registered in Texas, Vandiver and Kercher developed a six-category typology.…”

“…Female sexual predators were Vandiver and Kercher's (2004) third type of female sex offender. These offenders were, on average, 29 years old at the time of their registration offense and showed a preference for male victims an average of 11 years old.…”

“…These offenders displayed similar characteristics to other female general offenders and were likely to be arrested for a subsequent sexual offense. Vandiver and Kercher's (2004) fourth category of female sex offenders were the young adult child exploiters. These offenders were the youngest of the six classifications (average age 28 years old) and had few, if any, arrests outside their registration offense.…”

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Using all 390 female sex offenders registered in New York State, this study attempted to test the analyses and findings of Vandiver and Kercher (2004). Although the current sample varied geographically from Vandiver and Kercher's sample, they were remarkably similar on key demographic variables (e.g., offender age and race, victim age), allowing for close comparison of the findings.

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Sexual Offending in Women and Psychiatric Disorder: A National Case–Control Study

“…Typologies have tended to include both a ''teacher/lover'' category of female offenders, always in an authority position, who view their offending as non-abusive and a ''male-coerced'' category where a male accomplice is thought to have persuaded a passive female into the abuse. Of published typologies (Mayer, 1992;Nathan & Ward, 2002;Sarrel & Masters, 1982;Syed & Williams, 1996;Vandiver & Kercher, 2004), only one included a psychologically disturbed offender subgroup (Mathews, Matthews, & Spelz, 1989). Another area of uncertainty is whether the prevalence of severe mental illness in female sexual offenders is different from that in non-sexually violent offenders, which would help clarify if any differences in the rates of mental disorders compared with the general population are unique to sexual offenders or are non-specific characteristics of serious women offenders.…”