Sexuality of deviant females: adolescent and adult correlates

Peter Paul Vitaliano, Ph.D., is Assis tant Professor, Jennifer James, Ph.D., is Associate Professor, and De bra Boyer, BA, is Research Analyst, De partment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington Medical School, Seattle, Washington. Research reported in this article was supported by Public Health Service Grants No. DA-00918 from the Na tional Institute on Drug Abuse and No. MH-29968 from the National Center for the Prevention and Control of Rape, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The thesis of this article is that a velopmental experiences were thus woman's early sexual experiences have held constant for both groups, the an important impact on her self-esteem study was able to isolate the effect of as an adolescent, which in turn can insexual experiences more sharply, fluence her life-style as an adult. PreviKonopka and Davis discussed the ous research has attempted to examine sexual and nonsexual experiences that how an adolescent female's self-image female offenders and prostitutes share, may be affected by experiences such as The nonsexual experiences include sexual abuse prior to her first interloneliness, harsh childhood experi course and the circumstances and reenees, estrangement, low self-image, percussions of her first intercourse.1 the need for sexual status, and rejection The following five factors have been by society.5 related anecdotally to sexually deviant The subjects were interviewed by adult life-styles such as prostitution: (1) four interviewers who had extensive molestation or incest prior to first inexperience working with prostitutes tercourse, (2) age at first intercourse, and female offenders in the jails and on (3) society's reaction to first interthe streets of Seattle, Washington. The course, or labeling, (4) subsequent rewomen were contacted through exist lationships with one's first partner in ing networks established during previ sex, and (5) forced or coerced first inous research and through agencies pro tercourse.2 Lemert and Davis both disviding services to nonincarcerated of cuss the potential relationship between fenders.6 The subjects were inter an adolescent's self-image and her tranviewed in the offices of the researchers sition into deviance as an adult.3 and in their own homes. Table 1 con However, few studies systematically tains the sample size obtained for each relate the parameters of initial sexual group, with demographic breakdowns experience to a sexually deviant lifefor race, economic status while grow style. This article begins to fill this ing up, and age at the time of the inter void. The results of the research review. ported here have implications for Ninety-nine percent of the female therapists involved in the treatment of offenders reported that their primary adolescent females whose self-esteem means of support was from larceny, may be affected by potentially negative forgery, burglary, drug-related crimes, sexual experiences. and shoplifting. There was no report of regular prostitution. In contrast, 74 percent of the prostitutes reported pri mary support from prostitution; the The researchers assumed that negative remaining 26 percent reported prps sexual experiences have either a direct titution to be secondary to dealing in or an indirect effect on an adolescent drugs. The criminal records for these female's self-image. This assumption women supported their claims. The was made for two reasons: the litsamples provided an interesting com erature suggests that such experiences parison because although both groups are related to the development of a are involved in deviant activities, fe negative self-image, and a preliminary male offenders usually do not prostitute nonstatistical examination of the tranthemselves and their deviance is not scripts of interviews with the women in sexual in nature, this study indicated that negative sexThe research had two goals: first, to ual experiences were reported to be incharacterize the women's early sexual fluential in having a deleterious effect experiences as "positive-neutral" or on the women's self-esteem. "potentially negative," and second, to Prostitutes were chosen as a populatest hypotheses about the relationship tion that traditionally has been of each experience to a sexually de classified as sexually deviant.4 Female viant life-style. Table 2 summarizes the offenders were used as the comparison relevant responses obtained from an group. Both groups have been shown to extensive questionnaire administered have similar nonsexual developmental to the women during the interviews, experiences. Because nonsexual deDisorganization of the self, guilt, RESEARCH DESIGN