Developmental criminological perspectives on female sexual harassment

Based on the developmental criminology perspective, this study examines the association between the history of behaviour problems in childhood and adolescence and the useof sexually coercive behaviours by women. Sexual coercion refers to the use of strategies,which can be sometimes subtle, to have sexual contact without the consent of a partner (i.e.,seduction, manipulation, intoxication and physical force). In addition, this study examines theassociation between the use of sexual coercion and physical aggression (e.g., hitting a partnerwith an object, pushing or shoving) and psychological aggression (e.g., yelling at a partner,keeping him from seeing friends) toward their actual partner (or their last partner) duringa disagreement to document different coercive behaviours used by women. The data were collected from a sample of female heterosexual university students (n = ۲۷۴; mean age, ۲۲.۹years). The participants completed the Multidimensional Inventory of Development, Sex and Aggression (MIDSA; Knight, ۲۰۰۷). The findings suggest that women who had behaviour problemsin childhood and adolescence tend to use sexual coercion to a greater extent than womenwithout a history of behaviour problems. Moreover, the findings suggest that women who usesexual coercion are also prone to resort to psychological aggression toward a partner duringa disagreement. These findings highlight the importance of taking into account the history ofbehaviour problems across the life-course in the development of theoretical models of femalesexual coercion.

Keywords:

Behaviour problems , Women , Developmental criminology , Sexual coercion