Sex Offending Theory

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This theory applied to female sex offending can be criticised as there is a considerable amount of offenders who were not victims of sex crimes and decided to engage in the behaviour. Feminist approaches are particularly taken into account and have provided great contribution for the understanding of this topic. This topic particularly challenging for these theorists as women were excluded as sexual perpetrators for several years. They stipulate that sexual abuse is an outlet for the oppression and sexual exploitation women have suffered over the years (Lorber, 2001). Through exercising their power over another person, women are regaining control over the male-dominated culture. They support their argument by stating that most female sex perpetrators commit …show more content…

Furthermore, research on female sexual offending may suffer from unreliability and definitional concerns. The ambiguity of legal terms such as ‘offender’, tends to require a detectable action, and given the enigmatic nature of these offenses, female sex offending has only been accounted as a class of crime for the past 25 years (Ericson 1982, cited in Riffe et al., 2005). Above all, the biggest criticism of this type of data was its descriptive essence and its inability to draw inferences.
In the final analysis and taking into consideration all arguments presented, the powerful stereotypes surrounding the female sexual roles in society, has definitely contributed to the ignorance and neglect of female sex offending. In addition to the stereotyping, the associated taboo of the subject has acted as a barrier to consistent victim reports, causing a misrepresentation of sexual offences or sexual abuses cases in official