The review of 13 studies on female sex offenders indicated areas of strength in the research literature, areas of weakness, and areas in need of further study. The review supports the assumption that sexual abuse victimization is significantly greater in the female sex offender population. On the other hand, the widespread belief that psychological problems such as substance abuse, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder, occur more frequently in the female sex offender population were not borne out by this review and, thus, this remains an area in need of further exploration. The review also found that despite the perception that the majority of female sex offenders have a male co-perpetrator, most female sex offenders under examination in the 13 studies acted on their own without a co-perpetrator. Main strengths of the research literature include the inclusion of juvenile populations while the main weakness of the literature lies in its failure to use statistical analysis techniques to examine data. Overall, the review revealed the diverse nature of the female sex offender population and identified a lack of research on effective treatments for female perpetrators and their potential for recidivism. The methodology restricted the review to published scientific research articles appearing during the 15-year period 1989 through 2004. References