Unjust Desserts! Unravelling the Gender-Specific Dimensions of Female Sexual Offending

ABSTRACT

Western society historically views females as protectors who engage in acts of violence or sexual aggression only when they are triggered by a combative male partner. Nevertheless, research indicates some patterns of female violent offending have been on the rise, and this includes sex crimes. In fact, it has been estimated that female offenders may account for up to 12% of all sexual offenses.. In the present study, we conducted face-to-face interviews with ten females on the sex offender registry in Southeast Texas to explore patterns in sexual offending. Results indicated that respondents in our sample had unique motivations and circumstances that set them apart from male sex offenders. Similar to other studies, our findings reveal the dynamics of female sexual offending are vastly different from sex crimes perpetuated by men.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Robert M. Worley

Robert M. Worley, Ph.D. is a Professor of Criminal Justice at Lamar University. He has published extensively in the areas of institutional corrections and correctional officer stress and job burnout. Robert has also published research studies which examine relations between correctional officers and inmates. He has served as an expert witness and was successful in helping plaintiffs win more than $2.5 million dollars. Most recently, Robert and his colleagues have conducted research related to the behaviors and offending patterns of female sex offender. Robert is also planning a new research project with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In 2019, Robert was the first recipient of the ACJS Historical Mini-Grant and was awarded $5,000. He used this funding to produce a documentary titled, “Editorial Excellence” where he and his wife Vidisha interviewed numerous ACJS members about the history of the organization’s journals (documentary available on YouTube). In addition to this, Robert also served as the Editor of ACJS Today for six years and was the Editor of ACJS Now for three years. Robert also served as Treasurer for the Southwestern Association of Criminal Justice. He has been quoted in Reuters, the New York Times, the Dallas Morning News, and the Houston Chronicle, among others.

Ginger Gummelt

Dr. Ginger Gummelt is the Program Director and an Associate Professor of Social Work at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. She has more than twenty years of clinical experience working primarily with children, adolescents, and families. She is a current member of the Executive Team for the Center for Resiliency at Lamar University, past president for the Board of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Southeast Texas, a board member for Recovery Council of Southeast Texas, member of the ExxonMobil Community Advisory Panel, and member of the Lamar University Community Relations Advisory Council. She serves as lead researcher for the National Campaign to Stop Violence’s local initiative of Do the Write Thing and a collaborative researcher for the Center for Resiliency. Dr. Gummelt’s current research focuses on vulnerabilities and resiliency among at-risk populations. Dr. Gummelt is a licensed clinical social worker and certified secondary teacher (6-12) in the state of Texas.

Vidisha Barua Worley

Professor Vidisha Barua Worley, Esq. is nationally known for her legal research related to police and correctional officer use of force, especially, tasers and stun guns, and the condition of excited delirium. She is also the lead Editor of American Prisons and Jails: An Encyclopedia of Controversies and Trends, (ABC-Clio). Vidisha is a licensed attorney and has conducted legal research related to inmates as third-party sexual harassers of female correctional employees. She has also conducted quantitative and qualitative research related to correctional officer deviance and boundary violations, rapelore in prisons, police officer stress, and sex offenders. She has coauthored with her graduate students, most recently with the Deputy Chief of Corpus Christi, Texas Police Department. Their research addressed the concern about police use of force in situations where subjects exhibit signs of excited delirium. In addition to publishing numerous peer-reviewed publications, Professor Worley she has also made an enormous contribution to criminal justice legal education by writing “From the Legal Literature” columns that have been published in the Criminal Law Bulletin. These publications, cover a wide array of criminal justice-related topics ranging from counterterrorism to Terry stops and Miranda rights, online gambling, and prescription drug, among other topics.