Female child sexual offenders: Towards integrating theory and practice

Female-perpetrated child sexual abuse is beginning to be recognized as a significant problem in Western society. Despite this, however, relatively few researchers and professionals have conducted research of direct relevance for treating female child sexual offenders (FCSOs). In this review, we synthesize and update the available literature examining FCSOsʹ socio-demographic features, available typological distinctions, and research investigating the potential treatment needs of FCSOs. Our evaluation of the latest research suggests that researchers have spent the majority of their attention examining either socio-demographic or typological features of FCSOs at the expense of developing research investigating FCSOsʹ treatment requirements. We suggest that future research in this area should concentrate on developing research and adapting methods established with male sexual offenders to enable adequate and informative investigation of FCSOsʹ treatment needs. We anticipate that future research directed towards investigating this area will promote more effective empirically-driven clinical practice with FCSOs.