The "illusive" female sex offender a quantitative content analysis of media exposure

Fluctuations in societal beliefs towards sexually based crimes are plagued by the same continuous cycles of media attention to which most matters of public interests are subject. To perceive women as sexually aggressive is contrary to traditional sexual scripts which are gendered constructs formulated by our patriarchal society. Through the use of quantitative content analysis, this exploratory study examines whether it is possible to adequately measure through media reports the concepts and attributes derived from the social science literature about female offenders who commit sexually based crimes against children. Data collection and analysis based on the combination of the sex of the perpetrator, the level of violence associated with the criminal offense, and the overall tone of the media publications are examined to determine if a disconnect exists between what we know about sex offenders through social science research and how they are portrayed in the media