Gendered Perceptions of Child Sexual Abusers: The Paradox of the “Vulnerable Other”

AuthorLouise Rooney
Published date01 November 2020
Date01 November 2020
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/1043986220936099
Subject MatterArticles
https://doi.org/10.1177/1043986220936099
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice
2020, Vol. 36(4) 559 –581
© The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1043986220936099
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Article
Gendered Perceptions of
Child Sexual Abusers: The
Paradox of the “Vulnerable
Other”
Louise Rooney1
Abstract
A growing body of evidence indicates that women who contravene traditional
gender-role norms by committing sexual crime toward children are treated more
leniently than their male counterparts. Such lenience has been explained by some
scholars in terms of the “denial” thesis, which suggests that sexual scripts regarding
masculine and feminine norms influence how society reacts to particular kinds of
behavior. This study investigates the influence of gender-based attitudes and beliefs
on practitioner perceptions of male and female child sexual abusers. It also explores
whether and how gender-based ideals impact on practitioner punitiveness and
discusses implications for policy and practice.
Keywords
child sexual abuse, gender stereotypes, Ireland, punitiveness, criminal justice practice
Introduction
In contemporary society, child sexual abuse is understood as both a moral and a legal
issue. However, this has not always been the case as societal attitudes and government
legislation regarding adult/child sexual contact have changed dramatically in rela-
tively recent times. Evidence suggests that sexual activity between adults and children
dates back as far as ancient Greek civilization (Gray-Fow, 1987). Whereas child sexual
abuse has been discovered, forgotten, and rediscovered numerous times since the latter
half of the 1800s (Jenkins, 2004); its most recent rediscovery came about in the late
1University College Dublin, Ireland
Corresponding Author:
Louise Rooney, UCD Institute of Criminology, Sutherland Law School, University College Dublin,
Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Email: louise.rooney@ucd.ie
936099CCJXXX10.1177/1043986220936099Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticeRooney
research-article2020
560 Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 36(4)
1970s when feminist and decency campaigns began speaking out against incest and
voiced concerns about the potential harms of child sexual abuse imagery. Prior to this
campaigning, the authorities held a considerably more liberal stance on the issue. This
is evidenced by the fact that child sexual abuse imagery was legal in several countries
around the world and legislation regarding child “abuse” specifically focused on phys-
ical harm and neglect (O’Donnell & Milner, 2007). By the early 1980s, protection of
children from sexual exploitation had become a matter of international concern.
Consequently, child sexual abuse imagery was outlawed in numerous countries and in
1989 the United Nations drafted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC),
which provides a specific set of guidelines concerning the protection of children from
all forms of sexual exploitation. The evolving nature of international legislation sur-
rounding child sexual abuse directly reflects how societal attitudes and beliefs regard-
ing adult/child sexual contact have changed over a relatively short period of time.
Some theorists argue that gender is the single most influential factor in determining
criminal justice outcomes, with female offenders receiving more lenient treatment
than males (Steffensmeier et al., 1998). While others accept that perpetrator gender
does impact criminal justice processing, they also contend that such bias only exists
with respect to certain categories of crime, particularly offenses that involve physical
and/or sexual violence (Rodriguez et al., 2006). For example, a small body of research
suggests that women who contravene traditional gender-role norms by sexually abus-
ing children are treated more leniently than their male counterparts (Mellor & Deering,
2010). Such lenience has been explained in terms of the “denial” thesis, which pro-
poses that traditional sexual “scripts” regarding masculine and feminine norms influ-
ence how society reacts to certain types of behavior (Denov, 2001). “Scripts” may be
described as “knowledge structures that encode the stereotypical sequence of actions
in everyday happenings” (Eysenck & Keane, 2001, p. 254). Traditional sexual scripts
regarding femininity typically include preconceptions of sexual passivity, sexual
naivety, and sexual purity (Birch, 1993). Thus, notions of females as sexual aggres-
sors, coercers, and initiators are inclined to be absent from societal belief systems
regarding women (Byers & O’Sullivan, 1998). Denov (2001) contends that female-
perpetrated child sexual abuse (FPCSA) challenges traditionalist beliefs surrounding
femininity resulting in cognitive discomfort. To resolve this dissonant thinking, crimi-
nal justice practitioners attribute the causes of female perpetration to external factors
that are outside of the offender’s control, namely, mental ill-health, substance abuse,
victimization, masculine personality traits, and/or poor life circumstances. The shift in
focus away from sexual deviance quells the indignation associated with taboo, pre-
serves traditional notions of femininity, and informs lenient criminal justice practices
(Denov, 2001).
Objectives
This study aimed to contribute to the current knowledge base by investigating whether
gender-role stereotypes impact practitioner perceptions of male and female child sex-
ual abusers, and to explore whether gender-based attitudes and beliefs influence

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