The Mental Health Needs of Female Sexual Offenders

The Assessment of Female Sexual Offenders

“…Available research evidence suggests that female sexual offenders are likely to share some basic treatment needs in common with their male sexual offending counterparts. Importantly, however, these basic treatment needs appear to manifest quite differently in females, seemingly as a result of key physiological and socialization-related gender differences (Gannon, Hoare, Rose, & Parrett, 2012;Rousseau & Cortoni, 2010). Further, on the basis of gender, female sexual offenders appear to hold a suite of unique treatment needs that are not generally shared by their male counterparts.…”

Adverse Childhood Experiences in the Lives of Female Sex Offenders

“…The extant research suggests that female sexual offenders experience more prominently traumatic childhoods compared with female non-sex offenders and females in the general population. Several authors have highlighted a need to better understand the victimization histories of female sex offenders to enhance knowledge about the etiology of sexual offending and to help inform treatment efforts (e.g., Covington, 2007; Covington & Bloom, 2007; Rousseau & Cortoni, 2010; Topitzes et al, 2011). Chief among these goals is how best to provide differential diagnosis and integrated treatment in cases where women have experienced complex developmental trauma as children (Covington & Bloom, 2007; Streeck-Fischer & van der Kolk, 2000).…”

What Works in Offender Rehabilitation: An Evidence-Based Approach to Assessment and Treatment

“…For some women, deviant sexual fantasies and the search for sexual gratification are also part of the dynamics of the offending behaviour (Eldridge & Saradjian, 2000;Gannon et al, 2008;Grayston & De Luca, 1999;Mathews et al, 1989;Nathan & Ward, 2002). Here though, it must be remembered that it is as of yet unclear whether deviant arousal and fantasies among females play the same role in the offending as they do for males (Rousseau & Cortoni, 2010).…”