Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques

This study examined the recidivism rates of female sexual offenders. A meta-analysis of 10 studies (2,490 offenders; average follow-up 6.5 years) showed that female sexual offenders have extremely low rates of sexual recidivism (less than 3%). The recidivism rates for violent (including sexual) offences and for any type of crime were predictably higher than the recidivism rates for sexual offences but still lower than the recidivism rates of male sexual offenders. These findings indicate the need for distinct policies and procedures for assessing and managing the risk of male and female sexual offenders. Risk assessment tools developed specifically for male sexual offenders would be expected to substantially overestimate the recidivism risk of female sexual offenders.

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The Recidivism Rates of Female Sexual Offenders Are Low: A Meta-Analysis

Although considerable efforts have been made to develop and validate etiological models of male sexual offending, no theory is available to guide research or practice with female sexual offenders (FSOs). In this study, the authors developed a descriptive, offense process model of female sexual offending. Systematic qualitative analyses (i.e., grounded theory) of 22 FSOs' offense interviews were used to develop a temporal model documenting the contributory roles of cognitive, behavioral, affective, and contextual factors in female sexual abuse. The model highlights notable similarities and divergences between male and female sexual offenders' vulnerability factors and offense styles. In particular, the model incorporates male co-offender and group co-offender influences and describes how these interact with vulnerability factors to generate female sexual offending. The gender-specific research and clinical implications of the model are discussed.

A descriptive model of the offense process for female sexual offenders

A linguistic analysis of grooming strategies of online child sex offenders: Implications for our understanding of predatory sexual behavior in an increasingly computer-mediated world

Firesetting: Psychopathology, theory and treatment

A Descriptive Model of the Offense Process for Female Sexual Offenders

Female child sexual offenders: Towards integrating theory and practice

This study forms the second part of a larger investigation into the offence process characteristics of female sexual offenders (FSOs). In the first part – documented in Gannon, Rose, and Ward (Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 20, 352–374, 2008) – we described the development of the Descriptive Model of Female Sexual Offending (DMFSO); an offence process model developed using Grounded Theory methodology to describe the sequence of cognitive, affective, behavioural and contextual factors generating female-perpetrated sexual abuse. The second study described here examines the prevalence of specific pathways characterizing the 22 FSOs originally used to develop the DMFSO. Four individuals could not be assigned to a pathway due to lack of information (18% of the overall sample). However, for the remaining 18 participants, three stable pathways to female sexual offending were identified: Explicit Approach offenders (50%, n=9), who intended to offend, and explicitly planned their offen...

Pathways to female sexual offending: approach or avoidance?

Recent research by Beech, Parrett, Ward, and Fisher has suggested that Ward and Keenan's male-derived implicit theories represent a good theoretical fit for explaining female child molesters’ offence-supportive cognitions. This paper re-examines the applicability of Ward and Keenan's (1999) male-derived implicit theories for explaining the self-reported offence-supportive cognitions of 16 UK female child molesters. Using almost identical analytic methods to Beech et al., we show that it is indeed possible to code female child molesters’ offence-supportive cognitions under each of the five male-derived implicit theories proposed by Ward and Keenan. However, our results show that the content of female child molesters’ offence-supportive cognitions appears very different to that of male child molesters. Based on our findings, we discuss relevant treatment implications and offer a re-conceptualization of implicit theories for female child molesters using the sex-role stereotyping literature. We also propose t...

Mariamne R. Rose

Papers

A descriptive model of the offense process for female sexual offenders

A Descriptive Model of the Offense Process for Female Sexual Offenders

Female child sexual offenders: Towards integrating theory and practice

Pathways to female sexual offending: approach or avoidance?

A re-examination of female child molesters’ implicit theories: evidence of female specificity?