Women Who Sexually Abuse Children (Wiley Child Protection & Policy Series) [Paperback]

Hannah Ford (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470015748 | ISBN-13: 978-0470015742 | Publication Date: September 11, 2006 | Edition: 1

Until recently, the topic of female sexual offenders remained under-researched, and many incorrect assumptions and beliefs still surround the subject. This book is organised in to five parts around eleven chapters. It provides a comprehensive overview of the latest research in this often overlooked area and discusses both adult female offenders and adolescents/younger children who commit sexual offences against children. After an in-depth evaluation of research literature, the author then considers a range of treatment approaches and directions for future research.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The strength of this book is the skill with which Ford leads the reader through difficult and challenging material." (Youth and Policy, Autumn 2007/Winter 2008)

From the Back Cover

The sexual abuse of children by women is an area that has not, until now, been suitably acknowledged by professionals in the sexual offending field. Over recent years, the number of studies of such women has been growing steadily and this timely book provides an overall picture of our understanding of this issue to date and suggests where research efforts and practice developments could go next.

Women Who Sexually Abuse Children begins by considering the societal and professional understanding of sexual abuse by women and why, until recently, such behaviour in women was widely denied and minimised. The book moves on to discuss what is known about the sexually abusive behaviour of women and some of the potentially contributing factors to this behaviour. It also considers the particular effects on victims of being abused by a woman.

Although researchers are increasing their study of this group of abusers, the knowledge base remains small when compared with their male counterparts and, inevitably, many more questions still remain unanswered. Highlighting these gaps in our knowledge forms the focus of the next part of the book, before it continues to consider treatment needs and approaches with this group of offenders. The final section aims to broaden the reader’s thinking around this issue with a discussion of two related topics: the female partners of sexually abusive males and adolescent female sexual abusers.

This book offers comprehensive and up-to-date coverage for clinicians, practitioners and researchers working in the field of child sexual abuse or those working with offenders.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (September 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470015748
• ISBN-13: 978-0470015742
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,515,977 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The latest is outstanding, October 19, 2009

By 

Theresa Porter (New Britain, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Women Who Sexually Abuse Children (Wiley Child Protection & Policy Series) (Paperback)

Ford's work takes Elliot's and brings it up to date. An excellent piece on a still-ignored topic.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars getting readers to accept the uncomfortable, March 25, 2008

By 

Jeffery Mingo (Homewood, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Women Who Sexually Abuse Children (Wiley Child Protection & Policy Series) (Hardcover)

This book works hard to say that women can and do sexually abuse children. It asks, "If we can accept that women can physically abuse children, why is it hard to accept that they can abuse sexually?" It pulls numbers and examples of how its contention is true. This reminds me of how the teacher abuse shown in "North Country" was universally horrifying but many would pooh-pooh the sexual dynamic in "Notes on a Scandal" as it involved a teen boy and a female teacher. I do worry that this book can be used as a misogynist tool against women. However, the editor is female and the chapters are trying to get all readers to accept that this injustice does happen.

I struggle with some methodological issues here. Most every author bemoans the lack of research done on this topic. However, they quote a bunch of sources and it seems to suggest that there is research. Then again, some researchers, like Saradjian, are quoted so much, that person may feel plagiarized. Perhaps the authors here have read hundreds of articles on sexual abuse and they are synthesizing the scant info on female abusers. Though the introductory chapters seemed repetitive, the book gets better as you keep reading. I think various chapters will be of use to counselors and psychology majors. The chapters point to findings, but not solid conclusions. It does have summary points to help readers who get lost in all the numbers and references. Still, there's no way you can read this and be able to point out which specific woman sexually abuses and which specific child has been sexually abused by a woman. I'm still struggling with whether this book is amazingly thorough or tacitly scant.

When I was in law school, rape had to be covered in criminal law classes. However, it's a topic that no law professor or bar exam writer asks about. It's understood that the discussion may give too many people flashbacks. Readers should not be fearful here. The number of actual episodes of sexual abuse by women of children is very small here. This is not a huge book of case studies. This book's purpose is to admit the tragedy happens, but it doesn't pass on that message through the shock and awe of heartbreaking events.