Broken Boundaries 2010 Agenda Female Sex Offenders

Broken Boundaries 2010

Agenda Female Sex Offenders Who They Are; How They Operate Prevalence Role of the Father Denial n Adolescent Sex Offenders Recidivism Assessment and Treatment n

Female Sex Offenders.

Saradjian Study of Female Offenders N = 50 perpetrators 36 controls Criteria Substantiated case Admissions 49 of 50 (Saradjian, 1996)

Sample Characteristics Social Class Education & IQ Race Employment All Homeless to aristocracy 6 university degrees 4 borderline IQ All Caucasian Most short term, unskilled (Saradjian, 1996)

Types n Independent – Victims < 6 n Independent – Adolescent Victims n Initially Coerced

Typologies n Independent – victims < 6 N = 14 n Teacher/Lover N = 10 n Initially Coerced N = 12 (Saradjian, 1996)

Mean Age Gap Between Women & Victims Age Gap in Years A <6 18 B Ages 11 - 17 16. 6 C Coerced by Male 18. 5 (Saradjian, 1996)

What Difference Did the Type Make?

Sexual Motivations All offender groups: Controls Sex with adults negative but met some need Sex rated positively (Saradjian, 1996)

Victims Young Children Motivations Positive physical experience All Power and control All Wanted to hurt them 9 Merger 8 Feel loved 8 (Saradjian, 1996)

“Having sex with my sons was more enjoyable than having sex with a man and that was because I had some control over what was going to happen. ” (Matthews et al. , 1990, p. 206)

“I was sexually aroused. . . Felt very powerful. ” (Matthews et al. , 1990, p. 206)

Fusion

Merger “She wanted me to love her like her own mother did when she was little and sick. It makes me nauseated to think about it. She used me to maintain her own sick pleasure. I was mother, father, husband, sister, lover and friend to her when I needed a mother. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 29)

Fusion “I was not a separate person to her. In her mind we were fused. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 31)

“Another thing has to do with identity. My mom’s needs dominated every aspect of my life and she saw me as an extension of her. As an adult, at age 35, I am just beginning to differentiate myself and find my own likes/dislikes and talents. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 32)

Intrusiveness Ages 3 – 24 Fondled her breasts, anus & other areas n Repeated enemas n Watched while made to strip n Made her put on sexy nightgown n Watched her bathe and shower n Watcher masturbate n Watched her insert tampons (Rosencrans, 1997) n

Made to watch her mother dress & undress go to the bathroom expose herself n Made to sleep with and her mother dress (Rosencrans, 1997) n

Fusion “I never got to be me. Find out who, what, when, where, why I was. She did more than sex. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 30)

“I feel totally swallowed up by her; I see her, smell her, feel her breath on my body. ” (Saradjian, 1996, p. 11)

Responses to Fusion One woman Large amounts of plastic surgery To look different from mom

Fusion “It was part of an overall relationship in which I was allowed no boundaries or identity. I feel like she sucked my brains out with a soda straw so she could fill me with her own identity. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 151)

Maternal Introjects “There’s a woman who lives inside my body/mind who is NOT part of the comprehensive/entity called Karen. . . This woman who shares [my] body bears my mother’s name. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p 154)

Fear of Dependence “[I have a] fear of dependency on others. [I] fear needing people and fear abandonment, or of feeling helpless, powerless, or trapped with no way out. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 158)

Who was the Mother? n Child is the mother 83% n No 9% n ? 7% (Rosencrans, 1997)

Fear of Mother Dying “I used to worry about this all the time and her death was extremely traumatic for me. I never made the connection – it’s fusion!” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 32)

Violence

Violence “My mother threatened to burn my hair/me if I did not comply. I was given beer to drink. I was beaten and there were threats I would be burned if I wasn’t quiet. Sometimes I was slightly burned on the butt with lit cigarettes. I learned not to cry and to stop screaming. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 111)

“I have never had any sexual contact with my mother that was not violent and painful and full of rage on her part. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 112)

“It was always when she were angry but I never knew what made her angry. . . It were as if she wanted to tear me apart inside. She’d sometimes grab whatever were nearest to her and come at me. She’d insert anything into me ‘down there’, sometimes it were all her fingers, she’d push them at me really hard, sometimes it were a bottle neck or a brush handle, once or twice it were a knife and once rose stems. That were awful. ”

“I often bled but she never took me to the hospital or anything. I bled so often that when I started my periods I didn’t realise, I just thought it were more bleeding from what she’d done. ” Infancy until 12 (ran away) (Saradjian, 1996, p. 14)

Impact n Frequent admissions to psychiatric hospitals n Severe depression n Repeated overdoses n Frequent self-mutilation of arms, legs & vagina n Multiple drug addiction

Some degree of violence 70% (Rosencrans, 1997)

Disclosure n Attempts n Did to tell in childhood tell 5% 3% n Threatened to tell 2% (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 39)

Sadistic Abuse/Seductive No correlation with type of childhood sexual abuse Most severely emotionally abused Became sadists

Victims Young Children Motivations All had sexual thoughts of children All experienced arousal Few called it arousal Unable to identify emotional states Feelings in terms of sensations (Saradjian, 1996)

Teacher/Lover Group

Motivations Group B: Victims Adolescents Romanticized relationship Frequent sexual thoughts 80% masturbated to thoughts Equal in every way Victims instigators (Saradjian, 1996)

“We had an affair, a love affair. Isn’t that ridiculous? I’m 40 years old! And I had an affair with a 14 -year-old kid, which is totally ridiculous. And I was in love – not I loved him – but in love!” (Matthews et al. , 1990, p. 209)

Motivations Group C Initially coerced by male perps Negative feelings during sex w/ child Give pleasure, bonding with male (Saradjian, 1996)

“I wasn’t a whole person unless there was somebody else with me. That’s pretty much what it’s been like for a long time. There had to be a male in my life, otherwise I would think I was nobody. ” (Matthews et al. , 1990, p. 212)

Motivations Group C Initially coerced by male perps N = 12 Thoughts of sex with children 12 Arousal or neutral Repulsive 9 3 (Saradjian, 1996)

Motivations Subgroup of C: Initially coerced, later alone N=7 Power and control Hurt someone (Saradjian, 1996)

Older man Felt “loved for the first time in her life” He wanted “more spice in their sex lives” Agreed to get a 15 -year-old to join in Jealous & angry

He suggested abduction & sexual torture Readily agreed Loved it 1 year later – still turned on thinking about it Wanted to do it again

Types of Female Sex Offenders N = 16 Minnesota Outpatients n Teacher / Lover n Predisposed n Male Coerced (Mathews et al. , 1989)

Types of Female Sex Offenders Teacher/Lover n No “malice” toward children n “Fell in love” (Matthews, 1989)

Types of Female Sex Offenders n Predisposed n Acted alone n Difficulty with male relationships n Seeking intimacy (or fusion) (Matthews et al. , 1989)

Types of Female Sex Offenders n Male-Coerced n Felt powerless in relationships n Sexually n Abusive abused as children male relationships (Matthews et al. , 1989)

Severity of Abuse

Insertion into Orifices Vagina Rectum n Fingers 46% 34% n Objects 38% 51% (Rosencrans, 1997)

Sadism “When she wanted to do it do me, she’d say he told her to and I could never really be sure whether he had or not. She used to threaten me that. . . If I told anyone what was going on. . . I’d be in for ‘it’ and ‘it’ was really, really bad. I’d had ‘it’ before and I never wanted to ever feel that bad again. The more I hurt the faster she’d come. . . she knew just how to hurt me and I knew that she’d really ‘get off on’ getting him to hurt me. . . I never would have told because I was just too scared. ” (Saradjian, 1996, p. 36)

Objects Inserted Enema equipment, sticks, candles, vibrators, pencils, keys, hairbrushes, hairbrush handles, light bulbs, soapy wash cloths, wooden spoons, various fruits and vegetables, knives, scissors, lit cigarettes, sock darning tools, surgical knives, hair rollers, religious metals, vacuum cleaner parts, goldfish (Rosencrans, 1997)

Manipulation Vs Coercion

Persuading Victims Co-Offenders Threatened death 23% Threatened harm 36% Independent Expression of Love 13% Games 27% (David, Hislop & Dunbar, 1999)

n Sister disclosed sexual abuse of Kevin, age 14 n Questioned by a professional, “I’ve never seen a kid look so frightened. He actually wet himself. He became hysterical and babbled. He was convinced this was his end and his mother would now torture him to death. ” n Abuse age 3 – 14 (Saradjian, 1996, p. 34)

Who Do They Victimize

Victim Characteristics n Equally male and female n Relationship to perpetrator Biological 64% Related 16. 3% Unrelated 19. 1% (Saradjian, 1996)

Age It Began Average Age It Began 3. 2 yrs old (Rosencrans, 1997)

Age It Ended Average Age It Ended 17. 3 yrs old (Rosencrans, 1997)

Disclosure Average time before disclosure 28 years (Rosencrans, 1997)

“About a year ago I was at my mother’s house. We were standing out by the pool and I had a swimming suit on. She stood there touching me, first my wrist, and then sneaky feels of my breasts and buttocks. My younger brother watched and talked with us. He didn’t even notice what she was doing. She’s been doing that all our lives. We were so unconscious, myself included. I was 33 years old here. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 79)

“When I was very young, my mother used to drive all us kids out a lonely, isolated country road. Then she’d drop some of my kittens out the door. She’d drive ahead, turn around, then drive back past the kittens crying on the road. This was called ‘abandoning. ’ Later she threatened that if I told anyone about any of the abuse, by anyone, I’d be taken to an orphanage and never see my family again. I believed her. I knew how easy it was for her to abandon small, vulnerable creatures. ” (Rosencrans, 1997)

Why They Participated

Why Offenders Participated Co-Offenders Threats Abandonment Death 24% 15% (David, Hislop & Dunbar, 1999)

“I didn’t want my husband to leave me. I didn’t want to be alone. He always threatened to leave; ‘Do what I say. ’” (Matthews et al. , 1990, p. 205)

Trauma Histories

Females vs. Male Sex Offenders n More domestic violence n More traumatic childhoods Physical, emotional, sexual abuse n More n Less • unstable marital relationships satisfied with marital partner (Allen, 1991)

Denial

Females vs. Male Sex Offenders n More denial n Perceive n More sexual abuse as more deviant resistant to investigation n Fewer think behavior can be changed (Allen, 1991)

Female Adolescent Sex Offenders N = 67 Community/residential Mood Disorder > ½ PTSD nearly ½ (Matthews et al. , 1997)

Female Adolescent Sex Offenders More severe abuse n Abuse started earlier n More experienced force n (Matthews et al. , 1997)

Female Adolescent Sex Offenders n n n Number of molesters No. w/ more than 1 molester Gender of molester Male only Female only Both Female 4. 5 Male 1. 4 75% 10% 58% 80% 4% 13% 38% 7% (Matthews et al. , 1997)

Comparison of Female & Male Adolescent Sex Offenders Offending behaviors Similar Frequency & Magnitude (Matthews et al. , 1997)

Female Adolescent Sex Offenders Repetitive patterns of offending Multiple victims Used force as frequently as males (Matthews et al. , 1997)

Fathers

Fathers n “He was absent from out home a lot. He typically left the house at 7 AM and returned home any time between 7 PM and midnight. He was preoccupied with professional concerns. (I don’t know when) he began abusing alcohol and prescription drugs. . . He suffered(s) from severe, chronic depression and various somatic illnesses. ”

Fathers “However, the public’s view of him was that he was highly successful, articulate, affable, bright, ethical, a concerned citizen, handsome, etc. At home he was mostly asleep!” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 70)

Fathers “All he wanted was peace in his home, an absence of conflict. I became his confidant when I was about 12 or 13, listening to him describe his depression and his suicidal ideation. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 70)

Fathers “He’d leave when she became agitated. He left me to receive her rage and aggression. He was a first class, chicken shit coward. If he ever pushed back at her it was to save his own ass. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 72)

Perpetrator Mom; Weak Father 50%

Both Parents Abusive “He is a rage-aholic, obsessed with guns, withdrawn, authoritative, and abusive. ” “My father also abused me physically, emotionally and sexually. ”

Father Absent “[My father was] not home during one five year period when the abuse was particularly overt. ” “My father died when I was 8 years old. ” “No one at home. My mother’s husband, not my biological father, [was] usually 3, 000 miles away. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 71)

Hiding

“I think it is important for people to realize that perfectly loving and seemingly welladjusted mothers are capable of abusing their children. They need to know, too, that children love their mother despite the most horrifying abuse, and it can be more damaging to confront or condemn mothers in front of the children. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 36)

“[She looked like a] pillar of the community. I do not believe that anyone outside of our family [and I don’t know about inside either] would have seen ANYTHING to provoke suspicion regarding the nature of my mother’s psychopathology, attitudes or behaviors towards me. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 60)

“My mother was highly educated, had successfully been a professor for several years before having children, was a volunteer in various highly regarded, ‘dogooder’ type organizations, was a good neighbor, knew a great deal about child psychology, and was the perfect 1950’s early 1960’s support person for her husband’s blossoming professional career. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 60)

“No one would believe what she became when left alone with me. Sometimes I still don’t believe it. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 60)

“A couple of years ago she got the ‘Volunteer of the Year’ award. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 60)

[Outside our home she could look] angelic and perfect. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 61)

Isolation “Do you believe mother/daughter incest is more isolating than male/female incest is? ” Yes No Unsure 75% 5% 19% (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 37)

Who Knew? yes no ? Other parent? 20% 27% 53% Other adults? 28% 27% 36% (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 39)

Range of Paternal Responses “[My father knew] and participated and probably initiated it. !” “My father not only condoned her behavior but enforced my submission to it: he hit me when I “gave her lip” [i. e. , said no]. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 39)

Told her mother about her grandmother’s sexual abuse of her Response: “Granny just wants a big cuddle. . . Do what granny wants or she won’t want you, and you’ll have to stay in the house alone, when mummy works. ” (Saradjian, 1996, p. 53)

Talking With Others n Currently in therapy 81% n Talking with therapist 3% n Talking with therapeutic group 0 n (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 40)

Talking with Others n Talking with spouse (1/2 in relationships) 0 n Talking with clergy 0 n Talking with friends 88% (Rosencrans, 1997)

Response of Others “My aunt [mother’s sister] validated it took place and that the family was ‘concerned’ but minded their own business. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 46)

Talking with Mother Yes Mother tried to talk to you Tried to talk to mother % No ? 8% 91% 1% 29% 70% 1 (Rosencrans, 1997)

Effects Sexual promiscuity 35% Sexually abused others as children as adults 15% 3% Hurt animals 10% Tortured animals 4% (Rosencrans, 1997)

Effects n Sexual Problems 82%

Impact “I [have] a fear or an inability to become or feel close to other women. ” (Rosencrans, 1997, p. 37)

n Father had intercourse with her before coerced wife into sex with child n Told wife to 1. massage daughter’s breasts, 2. masturbate her 3. perform cunnilingus on her (Saradjian, 1996)

“She got away with it because she said he beat up on her. . . Well he did but that weren’t no excuse. . . She were just pathetic. . . Weak. . . And I hate her. She let him do it to me and she did it too. It were disgusting. . . Really disgusting. I want her to die. . . What he did was bad, but I’ll never forgive her. ” (Saradjian, 1996, p. 9)

“I never did anything to the kids unless he was there. . . I was dead scared of him. . . It repulsed me as much as it repulsed them. I just can’t understand the kids reaction, two of them won’t talk to either of us, I understand that but the other two. . . John writes to him every week and he got Susan to go with him to see him in prison. . . Neither of them write to me, nor visit. I did get one letter. . . It was full of hatred. . . Yet they are willing to see him. ” (Saradjian, 1996, p. 10)

n Father had intercourse with her before coerced wife into sex with child n Told wife to 1. massage daughter’s breasts, 2. masturbate her 3. perform cunnilingus on her (Saradjian, 1996)

“She got away with it because she said he beat up on her. . . Well he did but that weren’t no excuse. . . She were just pathetic. . . Weak. . . And I hate her. She let him do it to me and she did it too. It were disgusting. . . Really disgusting. I want her to die. . . What he did was bad, but I’ll never forgive her. ” (Saradjian, 1996, p. 9)

n Father had intercourse with her before coerced wife into sex with child n Told wife to 1. massage daughter’s breasts, 2. masturbate her 3. perform cunnilingus on her (Saradjian, 1996)

Societal Denial “That she might seduce a helpless child into sex play is unthinkable, and even if she did so, what harm could be done without a penis? ” (Mathis, 1972, p. 54)

Societal Denial “A respected child psychiatrist recently dismissed as ‘an obvious fabrication’ and a ‘physical impossibility’ the account of a 7 year-old boy who had described to his teacher how his mother had taken him to bed and placed his ‘willy’ in her ‘fanny’ and used her son as a masturbatory implement. ” (Wilkins, 1990, p. 1153)

Response to Disclosure Mother revealed to doctor: preoccupation with daughter sexual abuse of daughter Response to mother: “It is just natural for a mother to feel very fond of her children. ” (Welldon, 1988, p. 100)

Response to Disclosure Severely depressed & Suicidal – boy Disclosed maternal sexual abuse Pleaded not to go home Disclosures part of illness Women caught in sex act Attempted to admit her Must be psychotic (Saradjian, 1996)

Old Attitudes 14 -year-old runaway sexually abused by 39 year-old woman in return for a place to stay Investigating Officer: “. . . He fell right on his feet there didn’t he. . . Lucky sod. ” (Sarajdian, 1996, p. 7)

Couldn’t Be Linda: disclosed sexual abuse by mother in psychiatric hospital Response: Delusional

Couldn’t Be Linda 3 disclosures in therapy over 20 years Responses: 1)Referred back to psychiatry 2) It was “really her father but it was safer for her to believe it was her mother” 3) False memories implanted by therapists (Saradjian, 1996, p. 8)

How Many?

Prevalence Child Protection Agencies 3 to 5% (Hislop, 2001)

Incarcerated Sex Offenders Canadian sex offenders serving 2 years or more < 1% female (Motiuk & Belcourt, 1996)

Juvenile Sex Offenders HEW (1985) Pierce & Pierce (1987) Smith & Israel (1987) Ray & English (1995) Ryan et al. (1996) Percent female 8 19 20 11 2. 6 (Hislop, 2001)

Child Care Cases n Faller (1988) n Williams & Farrell (1990) Finkelhor (1988) Margolin (1991) n n 2% female alone 50% m. & f. 38% 40% 16% (Hislop, 2001)

How Many Victims Overall? Female Victims n 23% females abused as children n 5% of those have female offenders n Equals 1. 5 million female victims & Male Victims n 6. 75% of males abused as children n 20% of those have female offenders n Equals 1. 6 million male victims (Allen, 1991)

Siblings Yes No ? Sisters 26% 44% 4% Brothers 37% 33% 7% (Rosencrans, 1997, 82)