Date of Award
9-20-2021
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Criminal Justice
First Advisor
Tusty ten Bensel
Abstract
Sex offenders often engage in manipulative and coercive behavior to begin, conceal, and continue to sexually abuse children over time. They utilize grooming behaviors to gain the trust and compliance of their victims. Grooming is the process by which an offender prepares a victim, significant adult and peers, and the environment for the eventual abuse. Most of what is understood regarding grooming behavior derives from exclusively male samples, which is problematic because male and female sex offenders vary widely in their offending patterns, motivations, and behaviors. For the present study, I examined the nature of sexual grooming among a sample of 50 convicted female sex offenders. I was guided by Craven and colleagues (2006) model of sexual grooming that specifically focuses on self, environmental, and child grooming. The data included narrative interviews conducted with 50 female sex offenders who were arrested, convicted and assessed for risk and community notification purposes between 2014 and 2019. Findings indicated that female sex offenders utilized a variety of grooming behaviors, specifically self, environmental, and child grooming behaviors congruent with Craven and colleagues (2006) models. A better understanding of grooming behaviors can assist in the guidance of clinical interventions for both victims and offenders, the development of appropriate responses to child victims, aid in the investigation through prosecution of child sex offenders, and inform future legislation and implementation of policies.
Recommended Citation
Steely Smith, Mollee Katherin, "A Qualitative Examination of Female Sex Offender Grooming of Child Victims" (2021). Theses and Dissertations. 1033.
https://research.ualr.edu/etd/1033
