The role relationship between victim and perpetrator as a predictor of characteristics of intrafamilial sexual abuse

It is hypothesized that the closeness of the relationship between the perpetrator of sexual abuse and the victim will determine the number of instances of sexual abuse, the duration of the sexually abusive relationship, the level of coercion necessary to gain compliance, and how long it takes the victim to tell. Differences for cases where the perpetrator is the victim's father and married to the victim's mother, the victim's stepfather or victim's mother's live-in boyfriend, and the victim's noncustodial father are explored. It is argued that in the first case type, the relationship is the closest, the second case type falls in the middle, and in the third, the relationship is the most distant. Hypotheses regarding number of instances of sexual abuse, its duration, and the delay in telling are supported by the data.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44245/1/10560_2004_Article_BF00755849.pd

A Descriptive Model of the Offense Process for Female Sexual Offenders

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