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The Internet and Child Sexual Offending: A Criminological Review
Abstract
This paper outlines the current literature on what is known about the processes by which individuals utilize the Internet for child sexual abuse. First, three ways in which the Internet is utilized are outlined: (1) by dissemination of sexually abusive images of children for personal and/or commercial reasons; (2) by communication with other individuals with a sexual interest in children: and (3) by maintaining and developing online pedophilic networks. Second, content and availability of abusive images are described, and the difficulties faced by criminal justice agencies in both the definition of abusive images and their prohibition is discussed. Third, the potential for offenders to ‘cross-over’ from online offenses to contact sexual victimization of children is examined and placed within a context of various Internet offender typologies that have been developed. Finally, implications of this body of research for law and public policy are considered.
... Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) is by far the most significant component of OCSE. Researchers found that perpetrators employ diverse tactics in compiling CSAM content by targeting specific sites, collecting CSAM material, joining CSAM dedicated online networks, sharing materials using peer-to-peer (P2P) networks and chat rooms, and producing and distributing CSAM materials through dedicated P2P and chat room for financial gain (Beech et al., 2008;Briggs et al., 2011;Krone, 2004;Whitty & Young, 2016). To address the importance and severity of OCSE, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) have provided great insight into the growing severity of these crimes. ...
... There are various behavioral and motivational classifications of online CSAM users (Beech et al., 2008;Briggs et al., 2011;DeHart et al., 2017;Krone, 2004;Seto, 2013;Sullivan & Beech, 2004;Tener et al., 2015;Webster et al., 2012). The specific terminology and classification may vary by researchers based on data and methods. ...
... Among various classifications, the current study utilized the idea of CSAM collectors that was introduced even before the advent of the internet (Hartman et al., 1984) but is still applicable to the current online CSAM users: closet, isolated, cottage, and commercial collectors (Beech et al., 2008). The collectors categorize, catalog, and even index this content, which criminologists often explain as collector syndrome. ...
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of technology-facilitated crimes against children worldwide has increased substantially and become one of the most serious crime problems. Due to these considerations, there is a lack of large-scale systematic reviews investigating Cybercrime in and of itself could be challenging to investigate in comparison to traditional ones due to the elusiveness of the cyber realm. Specifically, investigating internet crimes against children comes with specific challenges. These offenses target vulnerable children who are less likely to realize their victimization, lowering the probability of reporting to the proper authorities. With these obstacles in mind, this research study utilizes data information regarding the characteristics of online CSAM users and their practices to inform law enforcement, parents, and the public for preventative and strategic purposes. Furthermore, this study diagnoses the significant challenges of investigating technology-facilitated crimes against children by examining how the current criminal justice system responds to these incidents. The policy recommendations discussed offer a holistic lens for highlighting this critical issue and implementing practical and proactive training solutions for law enforcement and the public.
... These networks operate similarly to markets, where the demand for such materials drives their production and distribution [3]. With today's level of Internet accessibility and easy access to social media platforms, the trading of content occurs mostly on-line, causing child exploitation material to quickly proliferate [4][5][6]. ...
... In the past decade, offences related to child sexual exploitation material have seen a staggering 233% surge, primarily driven by the growth of the Internet [7]. The Internet provides both efficient and seemingly anonymous access to such content and an environment where online forums facilitate interaction among individuals with shared interests, further legitimising their sexual interests and activities [5,8]. Individuals involved in illegal activities frequently use the Dark Web-a hidden part of the Internet accessible only through specific software-to conceal their digital trails and identities, with an alarming 80% of the Dark Web's activity linked to child exploitation material [9]. ...
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the detection of child sexual exploitation material (CSEM), with perpetrators increasingly turning to advanced encryption technologies to conceal their activities. This study delves into data from a Brazilian Federal Police operation on the Tor network, aimed at disrupting these illicit activities. We uncovered patterns indicating strong user preferences for certain content categories, suggesting the existence of distinct groups with shared interests. Additionally, our findings reveal consistent activity patterns among users, including specific 24-hour, 12-hour, and 6-hour consumption cycles. This research offers insights into the online behavior related to CSEM, providing a foundation for further investigation and the development of effective policy measures.
... Several studies show that the vast majority of all online offenders have contact with their peers (Beech et al. 2008;Merdian, et al., 2013;Shelton et al. 2016) and that access to the community of like-minded facilitates deviant behavior (Krone 2004). On the one hand, the "normalization" of sexual violence gives the perpetrator a sense that his behavior is more common than it actually is (de Young 1988). ...
... The focus of this article is on persons who commit online offences. Not all of them are pedophiles but may offend amongst others for financial profit or out of curiosity for CSAM contents (Beech et al. 2008;Sheldon 2011;Young 2008). Therefore, the article refers to them as CSA or CSAM offenders. ...
Online communities on darknet contribute to sexual violence against children. They provide offender access to Child Sexual Abuse Material and to a group of peers that supports criminal activities. This article sheds light on online child sexual abusers and their justifications for Child Sexual Abuse (CSA). It describes different offender profiles and motivations for CSA, followed by a section on policing these offences. The article then lays out psychological models, such as cognitive distortions, that are used to understand pedophiles’ behavior. The discussion is complemented by direct citations from a darknet community of CSA offenders, showing that these models are not just theoretical considerations. The last part of the article concentrates on online communities of CSA offenders. It describes different types of members of such communities and explains how the communities support individual offenders and how they provide learning models that facilitate criminal behavior. The article concludes with a short reflection of its findings, including novel insights for investigators of these crimes and proposed venues for further research.
... Ward & Siegert, 2002) and general criminological theories that have been applied to Internet and child sexual offences (Jaishankar, 2011;Jewkes & Yar, 2013;Leukfeldt & Yar, 2016;Wortley & Smallbone, 2006) but research has identified differences between traditional contact sex offenders and Internet-only Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) offenders, who tend to be less antisocial and to have greater technology access to facilitate offending (Babchishin et al., 2015;Elliott et al., 2013;McCarthy, 2010). In an effort to reconcile these, problematic Internet use and cyber criminology have been incorporated into prior work (Beech et al., 2008;Elliott & Beech, 2009) and resulted in new theories dealing primarily with online CSEM offenders (Beech et al., 2008;Seto, 2019). The current theories generally address motivation, however they do not provide explanations with adequate face validity for all of the technological behaviours seen in CSEM offenders. ...
... Ward & Siegert, 2002) and general criminological theories that have been applied to Internet and child sexual offences (Jaishankar, 2011;Jewkes & Yar, 2013;Leukfeldt & Yar, 2016;Wortley & Smallbone, 2006) but research has identified differences between traditional contact sex offenders and Internet-only Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) offenders, who tend to be less antisocial and to have greater technology access to facilitate offending (Babchishin et al., 2015;Elliott et al., 2013;McCarthy, 2010). In an effort to reconcile these, problematic Internet use and cyber criminology have been incorporated into prior work (Beech et al., 2008;Elliott & Beech, 2009) and resulted in new theories dealing primarily with online CSEM offenders (Beech et al., 2008;Seto, 2019). The current theories generally address motivation, however they do not provide explanations with adequate face validity for all of the technological behaviours seen in CSEM offenders. ...
Deterrence, treatment and legal response to online child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) offenders is enhanced by the joint consideration of technological behaviours and cognitions. CSEM offenders choose an environment based on both psychosexual needs and utility, and in turn that environment shapes future behaviour and reinforces cognitive distortions. This paper introduces lawless space theory, a theory of cyber criminality which posits that offenders will primarily choose and utilize a perceived lawless space that best meets their psychosocial and criminogenic needs in the most frictionless way; habituation and differential association in the lawless space will reduce the perceived risk; normalization will increase comfort in a particular lawless space, increasing friction costs that must be overcome to switch technologies; and additional countermeasures will only be implemented by offenders to reduce perceived risk and lower cognitive dissonance, but not at the expense of utility. The theory is explored through the exemplar of CSEM offences and offers explanatory power for the lifecycle of a lawless space, the use of legacy spaces in the presence of objectively more capable options, the simultaneous use of multiple spaces to meet different psychosexual needs, and the adoption of new technologies by offenders. Additionally, the gateway choice and progression of lawless space usage informs investigations, risk assessments, and deterrence efforts and provides behavioural treatment targets.
... Hierdoor kan er een hogere mate van georganiseerdheid ontstaan onder plegers. Tevens hebben technologische ontwikkelingen ervoor gezorgd dat plegers online direct contact kunnen maken met een slachtoffer en contact nadien kan worden onderhouden (Beech, Elliott, Birgden & Findlater, 2008;Hawke & Raphael, 2016). Jonas en Guadamuz (2016) hebben onderzoek uitgevoerd naar de rol van telefoonapplicaties in transnationaal seksueel kindermisbruik. ...
... Hierdoor hoeven plegers niet meer fysiek een grens over om een minderjarige te misbruiken (Koning & Rijksen-van Dijke, 2016). Een pleger kan via internet contact met minderjarigen in het buitenland leggen om deze zo tot seksuele handelingen te bewegen, of de pleger is een online toeschouwer van seksueel misbruik (Beech et al., 2008;Moerenhout, 2013). De pleger kan zelf de opdracht hebben gegeven tot het seksueel misbruik of kan kijken naar een al uitgevoerde opdracht. ...
Dit rapport doet verslag van een verkennend onderzoek naar het fenomeen
transnationaal seksueel kindermisbruik en het instrumentarium om dit
tegen te gaan. Het onderzoek richt zich met name op het instrumentarium
in Nederland, dat moet voorkomen dat kinderen in het buitenland seksueel
worden misbruikt, en of er in het buitenland andere maatregelen worden
benut waarvan Nederland kan leren.
Voor het onderzoek zijn diverse onderzoeksmethoden gebruikt. Zo is een
deskresearch uitgevoerd en is voor het onderzoeken van de Nederlandse
situatie gesproken met dertien vertegenwoordigers van organisaties die
(in)direct te maken hebben met (de aanpak van) transnationaal seksueel
kindermisbruik. De bevindingen van de deskresearch en interviews zijn
voorgelegd aan in totaal zestien experts in drie afzonderlijke focusgroepen.
Ten aanzien van de buitenlandse situatie is eerst een quickscan uitgevoerd
waarbij aan de hand van een deskresearch is beredeneerd welke vijf landen
nader onderzocht zouden worden. Het zijn de landen Zweden, Duitsland,
Ierland, Australië en de Verenigde Staten geworden. Voor deze geselecteerde
landen is een verdiepende deskresearch uitgevoerd. Daarnaast zijn er in
totaal vijfentwintig interviews gehouden.
Het blijkt dat er in Nederland in theorie voldoende juridische mogelijkheden
en instrumenten voorhanden zijn die op zichzelf of in combinatie met
elkaar voor veroordeelden drempels zouden moeten opwerpen tegen het
uitreizen naar het buitenland voor het plegen van transnationaal seksueel
kindermisbruik. Deze worden tot dusverre echter slechts beperkt ingezet.
Een belangrijke reden hiervoor is een lacune in de informatiepositie. Uit het
onderzoek zijn zowel voor de situatie in Nederland als voor de bestudeerde
landen enkele lessen ter inspiratie opgetekend, om het tegengaan van
transnationaal seksueel kindermisbruik te verbeteren.
... En nyere norsk kunnskapsstatus om digitale seksuelle overgrep mot barn og unge oppsummerer internasjonal forskning som viser at det digitale rommet kan forskyve grenser for i hvilken grad og hvordan personer med seksuell interesse for barn tillater seg å handle på disse preferansene, og at teknologiske muligheter utvider rommet for hvilke typer overgrep som kan begås og hvordan (se f.eks. Beech et al., 2008;Shelton et al., 2016). I forlengelsen av slike perspektiver har dette forskningsprosjektet undersøkt hvordan og på hvilke måter digital kommunikasjon og møter på digitale plattformer kan fasilitere eller fremme overgrepsatferd. ...
... Existing research has shown that victims experience long-term mental and physical health challenges, as well as difficulties in adult interpersonal relationships (Davis and Petretic-Jackson, 2000;Fisher et al., 2017;Downing et al., 2021;Assini-Meytin et al., 2022). Compared with offline CSA, the distinguishable characteristics of OSA are its global reach, accessibility, and the permanence associated with the internet (Beech et al., 2008;Whittle et al., 2013a;Martin, 2015;Hanson, 2017;Forni et al., 2020), which can often perpetuate a sense fear, anxiety, and embarrassment for the victim (Martin, 2015;Hanson, 2017). Victims who become aware that their images and videos have circulated online report experiencing pervasive feelings of threat (Hanson, 2017). ...
Introduction
There has been a rapid increase in prevalence rates of online sexual abuse (OSA). Existing research has highlighted the negative impact OSA can have on victims. However, there is a gap in understanding the long-term impact of OSA when it occurred in childhood.
Methods
This qualitative study comprised interviews with eight female participants aged 18–28 years recruited in UK NHS Trusts, and via mental health charities, University bulletins and social media. Each participant self-reported having experienced abuse through either the production or dissemination of sexual material online.
Results
Results showed that the longer-term impact of OSA was multi-fold, including negative impact on sense of self and broader interpersonal relationships, and significant impact on the participants’ mental health, including experiences of self-harm, anxiety, and low mood. Likewise, participants discussed long-term apprehension to taking images and the added fear and worry that their sexual images were distributed online. Seven participants had received mental health support but only two recounted a positive experience when receiving support for OSA.
Discussion
Future research using a quantitative longitudinal design is needed to further explore the prolonged impact of OSA. Clinical implications of the research highlight the need for support services to assess the impact of OSA and interventions that target OSA experiences.
... Many studies have reported that social networking sites used to facilitate and support traffickers to exploit sex workers in terms of grooming and recruitment of vulnerable victims, for advertisement of illegal services provided by human trafficking victims to a potential client-base, and for the payment for business expenses and service via Myspace, Facebook or online websites of traffickers. web-enabled mobile phones and computers have been used for recruiting victims, advertising victims, to communicate with other offenders and to facilitate these activities while offering some assurance of anonymity for both traffickers and consumers (Latonero 2011;Reid 2015;Beech et al. 2008). ...
One of the fastest growing crimes in the world is human trafficking. Many factors like social and economic factors are involved as the causes of human trafficking such as poverty, war, political conditions, social situations. Recently social networks have been used as a way to target the victims of human trafficking and the social media like Facebook and Instagram are widely used for this purpose. The victims include women, men, and children, and they are usually trapped in situations like getting offers of fake jobs though social media. The social and psychological impacts of human trafficking on victims are always devastating. The role of cyber world is very important in combating trafficking of human beings, and it requires collaborative efforts. The chapter will look into the definition, causes of human trafficking, impact of social networks in human trafficking, forensic investigation, psychological impacts on victims and mental health issues, social impacts on victims, prevention of human trafficking emphasizing the role of social media and cyber world, and management of victims.
... Le matériel présente des enfants participant ou non à une activité sexuelle, mais dans la plupart des juridictions, il doit exister un contexte sexuel (Taylor et Quayle, 2004). Ces enfants vivent des atrocités entraînant des conséquences à long terme sur leur développement émotif, social et physique (Beech et al., 2008 ;Gillespie, 2012). Il existe une relation de pouvoir, de l'adulte à l'égard de l'enfant impliqué (Taylor et Quayle, 2004). ...
... Similarly, because children appearing in court can be very traumatic and testimonies recorded on video receives lower status than those heard life in the court based on the principle of evidence immediacy, it is fundamental that the laws are reformed in some jurisdictions to adequately respond to the needs of children seeking justice (Back, 2012). In certain jurisdictions, the seriousness of an offence is a normative decision by the court which is usually based on the degree of its rejection by the current norms and values of society (Beech, Elliott, Birgden, & Findlater, 2008). To effectively protect children especially the girls, early marriage must be criminalized and the age of marriage should be raised to 18 years without any exception, in addition to statutory rape which lacks in most national laws (Hanmer & Elefante, 2016). ...
Almost everywhere around the globe children are subjected to maltreatment. Serious actions are required at all levels to end it with urgency. All children are entitled to full protection from all forms of abuse. This is reaffirmed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in which all nations are obligated to protect children from all forms of abuse and promote the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of sexual abuse survivors. The objective of the review was to examine the gaps in child abuse prevention legal systems in order to share knowledge to better protect the children. Thus, a systematic review of the literatures using data from different sources was actuated. Different search engines were used to search for these articles. Only peer-reviewed scholarly publications published after 2000 were selected except extracts perceived to be critical. The review demonstrates that the protection of children against abuse through the existing legal systems is constrained by inadequacy of legislations, poor enforcement mechanisms, poverty and corruption, lack of rehabilitation programmes, negative attitudes, ineffective judiciary system, lack of training, inadequate multidisciplinary collaboration, lack of child friendly courts, threatening defense lawyers, lengthy and intimidating court procedures, inconsistent age of consent, lack of mandatory reporting of abuse, non-recognition of institutional crime, wee statute of limitation, insufficient funding, discriminatory laws, lack of cooperation and support, lack of birth registration; and lack of national sex offenders register. To conclude if the safety of the children is to be ensured, the challenges highlighted in the legal system must be addressed with urgency. Key words: Child Abuse, Legislations, Child Friendly, Courts, System.
... In 2006, there were an estimated 3,672 arrests for crimes involving CSEM possession -more than twice the estimated 1,713 arrests in 2000 6 . There are also reports that the victims depicted in these images have become younger, and the images more brutal [7][8][9] . ...
The term evidence-based is increasingly found in treatment manuals and program titles designed for individuals convicted of a sexual offense. However, whether the presented evidence truly qualifies as “evidence-based” is questionable. I will share my experience as the clinical director for a private outpatient agency where we designed a program based on the existing peer-reviewed literature on individuals convicted of Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) offenses. I will describe the steps that we followed in developing a workgroup to explore and apply the knowledge from research to our clinical practice. We adapted the term evidence-informed to acknowledge that the program relied on existing literature in combination with the experiences and expertise of our clinical team. A fictitious case that reflects an amalgamation of facts is presented to demonstrate the assessment and treatment processes. Implications for organizational consensus to conduct program evaluation and research are discussed.
... Initial theories relied mainly on psychological mechanisms to explain pedophilic tendencies, including classical and operant conditioning, as a behavioral mechanism through which abuse-abuser theory (Freund, Watson & Dickey, 1990) attempts to explain childhood attachment style as a marker of dysfunctional cognitive sexual schemas in adulthood (Beech & Mitchell, 2005). Social factors such as childhood abuse, as well as easy access to social platforms, including pornography spread over the Internet, have also been identified as potential contributors and/or identifying factors for pedophilia and sexual abuse" (Beech, Elliott, Birgden & Findlater, 2008). However, the fundamental causes of pedophilia for the professional public are still disputed and largely unfathomable. ...
Paraphilias represent a group of disorders characterized by a pathological sexual tendency or anomaly, with the impulses including intense sexual fantasies and urges that keep returning in regard to the unusual objects, activities, circumstances, and/or certain category such as the children. Pedophilia belongs to this group of disorders and it is alternatively labeled as a pedophile disorder, which includes specific incriminated actions, which in addition to prison sentences, generally result in a social stigmatization of not only perpetrators but victims too. It is a sexual affinity disorder mostly found in adults who have expressed sexual fantasies and a tendency to enter the sexual relations with children of the same or the opposite sex. Nowadays, a “digital space” has become a unique environment where these specific crimes take place, and the border between the virtual and real world is practically indistinguishable. In this digital environment, pedophiles and other sexual predators have got a new space in which they establish spontaneous contacts with potential victims (often with children). In a manipulative way, they recruit vulnerable individuals with the aim of various forms of abuse and sexual exploitation. Considering the fact that it is a delicate and variable disorder, which calls for an interdisciplinary approach, profiling these persons is crucial in relation to any countermeasure. Profiling is also necessary to systematically investigate the symptoms, nature, and factors of psychopathological conditions and deviations in the existences of the affected persons. After all, it is one of the ways of reaction to make pedophilia more visible as a part of preventive programs before the late manifestation. In this paper, there are applied the methods of a quantitative and qualitative content analysis, comparative analysis (reaction to pedophilia) as well as a descriptive and analytical statistics. The purposeful goal is to recognize pedophilia as a sociopathological phenomenon that requires an adequate response from the social community.
... As access to the internet has increased, a rise in detected online sexual offences has also been noted (Beech et al., 2008;Kloess et al., 2014;Taylor & Quayle, 2003), outstripping current UK law enforcement's capacity to respond (Sawer, 2017). In 2021, UK police forces had recorded over 100,000 IIOC offences in previous five years (NSPCC, 2021, with the NSPCC previously elevating the estimate of UK-based IIOC offenders to between 450,000 and 590,000; NSPCC, 2016). ...
The access of indecent images of children (IIOC) is an increasing societal problem; no longer resolvable by law enforcement alone. This research aimed to explore the views of individuals who accessed IIOC, regarding their offending pathways and what they believed could have prevented their offending or encouraged desistance. The qualitative analysis highlights a lack of deterrents for online offending, and the importance of education around legality, consequences, accountability and access to confidential help to prevent online offending. Recommendations regarding IIOC prevention strategies are considered in light of the findings.
... Other possible areas of future inquiry include the potential mediating role of social identity deindividuation (Reicher et al., 1995) in the relationship between anonymity, technocultures and online sexual violence; and the predictive role of paraphilia (sexual fantasies, interests, and behaviours beyond those involving consenting adult human partners, including voyeurism, exhibitionism, masochism, and sadism; Joyal & Carpentier, 2017) in sexual violence perpetration in the online dating context. Although outside the scope of the current study, the use of online dating technologies for human trafficking and child sexual abuse purposes also remain under-investigated (with exceptions; see Beech et al., 2008;Sarkar, 2015) and warrant further study. ...
Online dating websites and apps offer an array of conveniences that have captivated those looking to form new relationships. However, as these platforms have grown in popularity, companies have had to grapple with their potential to act as catalysts for sexual violence and abuse both on and offline. In light of increasing anecdotal, popular media, and law enforcement reports, there is growing academic interest in online dating as a specific avenue of technology-facilitated sexual violence, with its own potential contextual drivers and safeguards. Using a scoping review methodology, the authors map this emerging literature's contours, characterize its theoretical, methodological, and empirical contents, and identify lacunae and opportunities for future research. Areas addressed in the current literature include the prevalence of digital sexual harassment and abuse, individual differences in victimization and perpetration, mechanisms by which online dating technologies facilitate or impede sexual violence, and responses from industry, policymakers, and the general public. Among other gaps, there is need for additional longitudinal and experimental research, qualitative analyses of online dating technologies' digital architectures, and investigation into the psychological and social sequelae of online dating violence.
... With the development of the Internet, the protection of children from illegal acts or inappropriate content on the Internet has attracted widespread attention around the world [1,2]. School bullying may have devastating effects on students' physical and mental health, and cyberbullying, as a type of school bullying, has a more serious impact on children. ...
With the prevalence of social networking sites, cyberbullying of children has intensified all over the world and caused serious social problems. Compared with traditional bullying, cyberbullying is more widespread, the methods are more diverse, and the harm to children is more persistent.To further legally regulate children's cyberbullying behavior, the relevant laws of China, the United States, and Japan were selected to investigate, to find out the common points of their laws on children's cyberbullying. The final paper proposes that the behavior of children's cyberbullying should be punished by law, and the correct guidance of society, schools, and families to children's use of the Internet should be strengthened.
... Studies of sexual offenders' behaviors have shown that they involve a heterogeneous combination of planning and avoidance strategies indicative of a wide range of criminal expertise (Reale, Beauregard, and Chopin 2021a, 2021b, 2021c, 2021d. While studies have identified a continuum of risk related to the profiles of online sex offenders (Beech et al. 2008;Briggs, Simon, and Simonsen 2011;D'Ovidio et al. 2009;Sheehan and Sullivan 2010), there seems to be a continuum of technical expertise as well. Studies of offline sexual offenses have failed to find a connection between offender expertise and crime resolution (Chopin et al. 2019;Reale, Beauregard, and Chopin 2021c). ...
While online sex offenders use a wide range of strategies to try to avoid police detection, attempts to avoid detection of child sexual exploitation materials (CSEM) and online sexual solicitation of children have received very little attention. This study aims to understand online sex offenders' behaviors by modeling the factors associated with their use of technological data protection and anonymity preservation strategies. The data is based on a sample of 199 men involved in crimes related to the use of child pornography or sexual solicitation of minors online. The analytical strategy based on the use of an artificial neural network (ANN), a machine-learning system, identified two trends. First, those who displayed problematic substance use and sexual thoughts and fantasies as well as behaviors reported to be preoccupying did not use specific strategies to avoid police detection. Second, two combinations of factors predict use of police anti-detection strategy, suggesting that the criminal expertise of online sex offenders is manifested in two different patterns: those building on existing knowledge, and those learning skills through previous judicial experience.
... Studies of sexual offenders' behaviors have shown that they involve a heterogeneous combination of planning and avoidance strategies indicative of a wide range of criminal expertise (Reale, Beauregard, and Chopin 2021a, 2021b, 2021c, 2021d. While studies have identified a continuum of risk related to the profiles of online sex offenders (Beech et al. 2008;Briggs, Simon, and Simonsen 2011;D'Ovidio et al. 2009;Sheehan and Sullivan 2010), there seems to be a continuum of technical expertise as well. Studies of offline sexual offenses have failed to find a connection between offender expertise and crime resolution (Chopin et al. 2019;Reale, Beauregard, and Chopin 2021c). ...
Online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is a growing problem. Prevention charities, such as Stop It Now! UK, use online messaging to dissuade users from viewing CSAM and to encourage them to consider anonymous therapeutic interventions. This experiment used a honeypot website that purported to contain barely legal pornography, which we treated as a proxy for CSAM. We examined whether warnings would dissuade males (18-30 years) from visiting the website. Participants (n = 474) who attempted to access the site were randomly allocated to one of four conditions. The control group went straight to the landing page (control; n = 100). The experimental groups encountered different warning messages: deterrence-themed with an image (D3; n = 117); therapeutic-themed (T1; n = 120); and therapeutic-themed with an image (T3; n = 137). We measured the click through to the site. Three quarters of the control group attempted to enter the pornography site, compared with 35 % to 47 % of the experimental groups. All messages were effective: D3 (odds ratio [OR] = 5.02), T1 (OR = 4.06) and T2 (OR = 3.05). Images did not enhance warning effectiveness. We argue that therapeutic and deterrent warnings are useful for CSAM-prevention.
Actualmente, en las redes sociales es más común el uso de términos en inglés, que hacen referencia a peligros para los jóvenes relacionados con el abuso y el acoso utilizando las nuevas tecnologías. El Grooming y el online Grooming son dos formas de acoso que implican a un adulto, que se gana poco a poco la confianza de un niño o adolescente para involucrarlo en una actividad sexual. El objetivo es identificar el medio de obtención de material de abuso sexual, de los grupos de juegos en donde se puede identificar el online grooming. Los métodos utilizados fueron una ampliación de la metodología cuantitativa de las encuestas realizadas. Los resultados demostraron que el 73.33 % de los Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes (NNA), admitieron haber conversado con personas desconocidas de los juegos en línea. Aunque, los NNA usan las TIC, se tiene mayor predisposición al online grooming, junto con factores externos que existen en el exterior, tales como amigos, forma de ser, autoestima, capaces de generar conductas antisociales y posteriormente a delitos.
Despite the emerging field of research on females who engage in contact child sexual abuse offenses, we know little about females who engage in child sexual abuse material (CSAM) offenses. This is concerning given the global proliferation of CSAM and recent research identifying female-perpetrated CSAM offending is more prominent than previously thought. This paper contributes to the underdeveloped field, by offering a beneficial and timely stop gap of current research on women who engage in CSAM offenses. In doing so, the synthesis explores the prevalence of females who engage in CSAM, why some females might perpetrate CSAM offenses (including co-offending, prior victimization, mental health, opportunity, and sexual motivation), the harms of female-perpetrated CSAM offending, and how the media portrays this offending group. To further extend our knowledge in this field, ideas for future research are also provided throughout. This paper should be useful for various disciplines including psychology, criminology, and law, globally, who are interested in better understanding CSAM offenses perpetrated by females.
Recent technological advances in online communication have led to new avenues for commercial sexual exploitation of children facilitated by the Internet. Unprecedented technological accessibility coupled with online anonymity raises concerns regarding the proliferation of child pornographic exploitation (CPE) and the purchasing of sex with minors around the world. Advances in technology now allow an offender to request a specific type of exploitive image or recording, and even to communicate and direct the sexual exploitation of a child in real time. Anonymous online forums allow individuals to connect with other offenders and share abusive practices thereby normalizing sexual exploitation of children and desensitizing participants to the consequences suffered by exploited children. Analysis of seized CPE content uncovered a growing number of occurrences of rape or sexual torture involving prepubescent children, raising concerns over the young age of CPE victims and increasingly violent CPE content.
This chapter considers the historical development of typologies of Internet sex offenders, and frameworks for measuring both their behaviour and the risk posed for future offending. What can be seen from the review of the extant literature is a growing knowledge about these crimes and the people who commit them that allows a differentiation of offending behaviours and motivations. This has led to a differentiation between those who use the Internet to enable sexual fantasy, through either the use and exchange of images or sexual engagement online with young people, and those whose use of technology is primarily motivated by a bid to commit contact offences against children in their more immediate social environment. What has yet to be fully understood is the potentially unique role that technology plays in these offences, both in setting the scene for the onset of the offence and in acting as a facilitator for future offending.
Over the last 50 years, there has been a plethora of research exploring sexual offending with a recent focus on online offending. However, little research has focused on voyeurism despite convictions and media awareness growing rapidly. Currently, there is sparse theoretical or empirical literature to guide research and practice for individuals engaging in voyeuristic behaviors. As such, 17 incarcerated men with a conviction of voyeurism in the UK were interviewed on the cognitive, affective, behavioral, and contextual factors leading up to and surrounding their offense(s). Grounded theory analyses were used to develop a temporal model from background factors to post-offense factors; the Descriptive Model of Voyeuristic Behavior (DMV). The model highlights vulnerability factors for men engaging in voyeuristic behaviors in this sample. Following this, the same 17 men were plotted through the model and three key pathways were identified: Sexual Gratification, Maladaptive Connection Seeking, and Access to Inappropriate Person(s). The characteristics of each pathway are discussed, and treatment implications considered.
Zusammenfassung
Der Konsum von Missbrauchsabbildungen hat sich im Hellfeld in den letzten Jahren immer wieder verdoppelt. Dieses erhöhte Fallaufkommen stellt Polizei, Bewährungshilfe und forensische Therapeuten vor eine Vielzahl neuer Herausforderungen. In diesem Beitrag sollen daher aktuelle theoretische Modelle und empirische Erkenntnisse dargestellt werden, um Praktiker in ihrer täglichen Arbeit zu unterstützen. Im Einzelnen sollen das Ausmaß der Problematik und ätiologische Erklärungsmodelle dargestellt werden. Darauffolgend werden empirische Erkenntnisse zu Konsumenten von Missbrauchsabbildungen aufgeführt und diese mit Tätern, die zusätzlich auch Hands-On-Delikte begehen, verglichen. Ferner wird die Problematik von „Crossover“-Tätern diskutiert. Abschließend werden Ansätze vorgestellt, um Fälle in der polizeilichen Ermittlungsarbeit zu priorisieren sowie um das Rückfallrisiko von Konsumenten von Missbrauchsabbildungen vorherzusagen.
This chapter examines the crowdsourcing model of Europol’s ‘Stop Child Abuse—Trace an Object’ (SCATO) platform on collecting tips provided by the public to tackle online child sexual exploitation. The chapter investigates the effectiveness of the platform with the most prominent sharing economy/crowdsourcing variables; low barrier accessibility, transaction cost and trust-building. Based on Europol documents and semi-structured elite interviews, the chapter’s core argument is that the SCATO provides a low barrier entry for the crowd to share tips with LEAs. However, to reduce the transaction cost of intelligence gathering, the item pictures shared on the platform should stimulate high-value reporting without compromising the victim’s anonymity. The platform also needs a clear guideline and feedback mechanism to encourage more public contribution.KeywordsCrowdsourcingPublic–private partnershipEuropolCybercrimeOnline child sexual exploitation material
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) report a growing number of child sexual abuse material within the UK, substantiated by the National Crime Agency (NCA). This paper will investigate the increasing burden, and time-consuming task placed upon police forces, by the required regular examination of digital devices, belonging to sentenced peadophiles and individuals, bound by a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO). By examining some of the motivations behind offenders and their desire to habitually offend as well as the most common traits amongst them, indicators of suspicious behaviour will emerge. In this paper a proof-of-concept digital forensic investigation toolkit is proposed to assist Public Protection Officers (PPO) in the analysis of digital devices belonging to these individuals. The proposed Live Suspicious Activity Toolkit (LiSA -T) will enable a time-efficient, up to date assessment of any suspicious activity and behaviour on a Windows 10 computer. By using tool modules that can be turned on and off, updated and have unique preferences set to them, LiSA-T will evaluate and then report the findings, assisting the PPO with an informed decision as to involve the Digital Forensic Unit (DFU), to examine a device in a more in-depth forensic manner. The test results, demonstrated that the proposed LiSA-T techniques, showed low computational cost to successfully detect the targeted evidential artifacts for the defined suspicious activity
The aim of this literature review is to provide information that will assist The Lucy Faithfull Foundation and other stakeholders in the development of an interactive chatbot, reThink, designed to increase engagement with individuals attempting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) searches on PornHub UK and direct then to support services.
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Das zentrale Ziel in der Behandlung von Sexualstraftätern besteht in der Verringerung des Risikos für erneute Sexualdelikte. In der Evaluation wurden entlassene Sexualstraftäter, die an der sozialtherapeutischen Nachsorge in Sachsen teilnahmen, mit Sexualstraftätern ohne Nachsorge hinsichtlich Rückfälligkeit, Legal- prognose sowie Konfliktfähigkeit im Längsschnitt verglichen. Anhand eines Paired Matchings wurde die Vergleichbarkeit beider Gruppen sichergestellt. Die Teilnehmer an der Nachsorge wiesen trotz der deutlich längeren Beobachtungdauer signifikant geringere einschlägige Rückfallraten auf als Sexualstraftäter, die nicht an der sozialtherapeutischen Nachsorge teilnahmen.
Neuartig an der vorliegenden Studie ist die Entwicklung eines zusätzlichen Assessments auf Grundlage des Good Lives-Modells (GLM), das eine empirisch-quantitative Überprüfung der Wirksamkeit dieses Ansatzes ermöglicht.
Um zu untersuchen, was Behandlungsabbrecher von den Klienten unterscheidet, die erfolgreich die Behandlung abschließen, wurde außerdem eine Vollerhebung aller bisherigen Therapieabschlüsse und Beendigungen vorgenommen.
Die Corona-Krise stellte die Gesellschaft insgesamt in den letzten Jahren vor besondere Herausforderungen. Wie sich die Maßnahmen auf die Resozialisation straffällig gewordener Menschen nach der Haftentlassung auswirkte, ist das Thema im letzten Teil unserer Studien.
// English description:
The central goal in the treatment of sex offenders is to reduce the risk of re-offending. In the evaluation, released sex offenders who participated in social therapy aftercare in Saxony were compared longitudinally with sex offenders without aftercare in terms of recidivism, legal prognosis, and conflict ability. Paired matching was used to ensure the comparability of both groups. Participants in aftercare showed significantly lower relevant recidivism rates than sex offenders who did not participate in social therapy aftercare, despite the significantly longer observation period.
A novel feature of the present study is the development of an additional assessment based on the Good Lives Model (GLM), which allows empirical-quantitative testing of the effectiveness of this approach.
In addition, to examine what distinguishes treatment dropouts from clients who successfully complete treatment, a full survey of all previous treatment completions and terminations was conducted.
The Corona crisis has presented unique challenges to society at large in recent years. How interventions affected the resocialization of offenders after release from prison is the topic of the final part of our studies.
Çocuğun sanal cinsel istismarı, internet ve özellikle sosyal medya araçlarının
yaygınlaşması ile birlikte büyük bir probleme dönüşmektedir. Çocukların sanal
cinsel istismar teşkil eden fiillerden korunması için pek çok ülkede bu fiiller için
cezai yaptırım öngörülmekte iken bu fiiller Türk hukukunda münhasır bir suç tipi
olarak değerlendirilmemektedir ve cinsel taciz veya müstehcenlik suçu bünyesinde
ele alınmaktadır. Türk Ceza Kanunu’nda (TCK) cinsel dokunulmazlığa karşı işlenen
suçlarda davranışın bedensel temas içerip içermemesi, temel bir ölçüt olarak kabul
edilmiştir. Haksızlığın ağırlığını belirlemedeki bu bedensel temas ölçütü, bugünün
teknolojisi karşısında bazı hallerde yetersiz kalabilmektedir. Sanal ortamdaki
davranışların bedensel temas içermeyen yapısı nedeniyle özellikle çocuklara yönelik
sanal ortamda gerçekleştirilen davranışların hususi olarak ele alınması zorunludur.
Bu konuda TCK’daki cinsel taciz (m 105) hükmü haksızlığın yoğunluğunu
karşılayamamaktadır.
Bu çalışmanın amacı, sanal ortamda çocuğa yönelik cinsel istismarı hedefleyen
birtakım davranışların mahiyetini tespit etmek, hangi aşamada faile yönelik ceza
hukuku yoluyla müdahale edileceğini belirlemek ve Türk ceza hukukundaki olası
kanun boşluklarına işaret etmektir. Zira çocuklara yönelik sanal ortamdaki cinsel
dokunulmazlık ihlallerinde ceza hukuku, prima ratio karakteriyle karşımıza
çıkmaktadır. Bu çalışmada sosyal medya, oyun siteleri veya sair sanal platformlarda
çocukla tanışılması ve çocuğun cinsel istismar edilmesine değin geçen manipülasyon
süreci aşamalar halinde incelenmiştir. Ampirik çalışmalardan da yararlanarak belirli
bir fail ve mağdur tipolojisinin mevcut olup olmadığı ele alınmıştır
The misuse of the Internet by pedophiles presents a serious challenge to criminal justice agencies. Author Keith F, Durkin discusses the various ways in which pedophiles utilize the Internet: to traffic child pornography, to engage in sexual communication with children, to locate children to molest, and to communicate with other pedophiles. The implications that these deviant activities have for law enforcement and probation practice are highlighted.
The authors review the literature on the psychology of sex offenders, variables associated with recidivism, actuarial methods to predict recidivism, and treatment. Sexual deviance measured phallometrically can discriminate, with high accuracy, between sex offenders and other men. Sex offenders remain at risk for a long time after release, and combinations of variables selected for their cumulative efficiency in predicting recidivism have been developed and validated. The ability of any interventions to effect reductions in recidivism is unknown. Methodologically sound evaluations of all intervention (therapy, drugs, community notification, registration, and supervision) should have high priority. Finally, application of the available data can increase the likelihood that new legislation intended to reduce the risk represented by sexual predators will have its intended results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In recent years, a new term has arisen—“cybercrime”—which essentially denotes the use of computer technology to commit or to facilitate the commission of unlawful acts, or “crimes.” This article explains why we treat cybercrime as a special class of “crime” and why we need special statutes to define cybercrime offenses. It explains the relationship between state and federal law, notes the various types of cybercrimes and surveys the offenses that are created by state and federal law in the United States.
In May 2005, the Serious Sex Offenders Monitoring Act 2005 (Vic) was enacted to enable up to 15 years of conditional supervision and treatment to occur subsequent to the expiry of a criminal sentence or parole. Such legislation reflects changes occurring in other parts of Australia and New Zealand regarding increased community protection. The article will conduct a therapeutic jurisprudence analysis from the perspective of a forensic psychologist. In determining whether the Act is likely to maximise community protection, the analysis will focus upon legal procedures, the role of forensic psychologists and substantive law. The analysis will identify psycho-legal soft spots to anticipate areas where procedures, roles, and the law may be anti-therapeutic. Therapeutic enhancements to procedures and roles to engage the sex offender are proposed in order to balance individual autonomy with community protection needs. Any future development of legislation designed for community protection against offenders must include forensic researchers and practitioners with relevant expertise.
Over recent years, offences related to the production, possession and distribution of child pornography have assumed great prominence. Public attention has focused on these crimes as being particularly repellent and deserving of both proactive policing and, when detected, full and extensive investigation. Increased awareness of the problem of child pornography has been associated with a parallel recognition of the significance of the Internet as a medium for the distribution of both child pornography and the facilitation and propagation of a number of sexual offences against children. Most European countries have statutes that criminalise possession of child pornography, and it is now regar- ded as a serious offence in most jurisdictions, attracting significant sentences on conviction. Because of its emotive nature and also because possession is, in the main, illegal, research into child pornography has been limited. Little is known about the nature and extent of child pornography precisely because it is an illegal trade, and the distinctive qualities contributed by the current principal medium of distribution, the Internet, add even further complexity. Such work that there is tends to be from a limited evidential perspective. Lanning (1992), in what is amongst the most significant contributions to this area, outlined a behaviour analysis of child molesters describing the role of child pornography in their offending behaviour. He discussed motivation for collecting, the func- tions of collection and the characteristics of collections (for example important, constant, organised, permanent, concealed and shared). A major weakness of this work is its lack of empirical verification, relying instead on the experience of Lanning in law-enforceme nt work in this area. However, Lanning (24-6) introduces the important distinction between child pornography ('the sexually explicit reproduction of a child's image') and child erotica {'any material, relating to children, that serves a sexual purpose for a given individual'). The significance of this distinction is to emphasise the potential sexual qualities of a whole range of kinds of photograph (and other material as well) not all of which may meet obscenity criteria. The implications of that distinc- tion in the context of the Internet could not at that time be fully explored, although Lanning does, in that and later work, clearly recognise the significance of the new technologies. The operational
Challenges encountered as a result of the widespread penetration of the Internet and the associated communicative capabilities the Internet affords are set to become much more complex and potentially dangerous, as computing and mobile technologies converge and multi-media real-time communication via mobile applications will become the norm. This paper will present an exposé of a range of child-sex related risks associated with both existing and emerging communication technologies. Areas of concern are categorised and examined in terms of six main target groups, i.e. children, parents' educators, teachers, law enforcement, and the industry. There will be a distinct order to the presentation of a set of interrelated themes which will include an explication of a number of key technical issues, which act to both constrain but also potentially liberate both the fixed and mobile internet industry in terms of implementing security features designed not only to enhance children's safety but also to deter criminal activity. Arguably, a baseline understanding of these technical issues is imperative if Internet safety experts are to adopt a more proactive role in, for example, working with the product developers of new technologies. A second theme involves an outline of issues associated with the development of programs of education designed to empower children, parents and teachers with the tools knowledge and skills they need to navigate the Internet safely. Finally, this paper calls for strategic action and outlines a vision of how we might harness the knowledge generated as a result of our experiences and furthermore proposes that we ought to co- ordinate activities so that a clearer, louder and infinitely more effective voice is heard by the key players with respect to the need to but systems in place to augment children's safety on-line. We are at a critical point at the cusp of the roll out of the next evolution in communication technologies and now is the time to act in order to ensure a safer future for children on-line.
This article examines the application of 'child pornography' law by police, prosecutors and the courts and presents the key findings from the first national study conducted into child pornography trials in the Crown Court in England and Wales against a wider statistical analysis of proceedings for possession of 'child pornography' in the Magistrates' Court. The findings show that there are very few prosecutions in the Crown Court and, of defendants proceeded against, most are involved in the taking of photographs rather than in distribution or possession per se. Notwithstanding, few of these defendants are charged with any additional sexual offence, although in the act of taking an indecent photograph of a child some further offence(s) must inevitably be committed. The findings suggest a relationship between child pornography and child sexual abuse. Defendants engage in disavowal and minimizing strategies, while judges also fail to recognize the dangerousness of those defendants convicted of possession or distribution. Sentencing continues to reflect the view that such child pornographers are benign and prison terms remain at the lower end of the tariff range.
Pragmatic psychology is a psychological framework developed to advance pragmatic principles and ideas in various domains of applied psychology. It involves adopting a holistic, pluralistic, and dynamic approach to knowledge generation and proposes that psychological methods and strategies should be evaluated in terms of their ability to solve problems in specific contexts. Therapeutic jurisprudence is a legal theory that utilizes psychological and other social science knowledge to determine ways in which the law can enhance well-being of individuals who experience the law. We examine the capacity of these theories to resolve two psycholegal soft spots, where legal processes may reduce well-being: (a) the assessment of competence to stand trial in defendants with mental retardation and (b) the determination of parole for sex offenders. These case examples illustrate the beneficial relationship between therapeutic jurisprudence and pragmatic psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
What is needed to carry out a thorough risk assessment of an ex-offender? This article describes four major components: (a) a functional analysis of the offense process in order to determine how the offenders' problems contributed to their offending and to identify the
modus operandi used in their offense(s); (b) the application of a suitable actuarial risk predictor to assess the offender's global level of risk; (c) identification of stable dynamic risk factors that make potential treatment targets; and (d) monitoring of acute dynamic factors that indicate offending is imminent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Thirteen men convicted of downloading child pornography were interviewed with a view to understanding how these men talked about the photographs and the function such talk played in their accounts. The interviews were informed by earlier work with defended subjects and were analyzed within a discursive framework. Quotations are used from the interviews to illustrate the analysis. Six principal discourses emerged within these accounts in relation to child pornography: sexual arousal; as collectibles; facilitating social relationships; as a way of avoiding real life; as therapy; and in relation to the Internet. These are discussed in the context of previous research. The analysis illustrates the important role that the Internet plays in increasing sexual arousal to child pornography and highlights individual differences in whether this serves as a substitute or as a blueprint for contact offenses. It also draws our attention to the important role that community plays in the Internet and how collecting facilitates the objectification of children and increases the likelihood that in the quest for new images children continue to be sexually abused. Discourses focussing on both therapy and addiction serve to distance the respondent from personal agency and allow for continued engagement with child pornography.
Child pornography, particularly that available via the Internet, has become a cause of huge social concern in recent years. This book examines the reality behind the often hysterical media coverage of the topic. Drawing on extensive new research findings, it examines how child pornography is used on the Internet and the social context in which such use occurs, and develops a model of offending behaviour to better help understand and deal with the processes of offending. Detailed case studies and offenders' own accounts are used to illustrate the processes involved in offending and treatment.
The authors argue that we need to refine our ideas of offending, and that while severe deterrents need to be associated with possession of child pornography, a better understanding is needed of the links between possession and committing a contact offence. Only by improving our understanding of this complex and very controversial topic can we hope to deal effectively with offenders and with their child victims. This is a book which will become an essential read for anyone involved with offenders or victims from a psychological, judicial or social background.
As yet, little is understood of the potential problems and benefits associated with Internet use, and the resulting social outcomes that may arise. This article examines issues that emerged out of a subset of nine interviews with social workers and probation officers, namely the feelings by such practitioners that they did not understand the function of the Internet for adults with a sexual interest in children. The analysis of these data is not examined in detail, rather an attempt is made to address the issues raised through a discussion of the role of child pornography, how it is accessed through the Internet and what implications this might have for assessment. The data are drawn from ongoing research by the COPINE (Combating Paedophile Information Networks in Europe) Project.
The likelihood that child pornography offenders will later commit a contact sexual offense is unknown. In the present study, we identified a sample of 201 adult male child pornography offenders using police databases and examined their charges or convictions after the index child pornography offense(s). We also examined their criminal records to identify potential predictors of later offenses: 56% of the sample had a prior criminal record, 24% had prior contact sexual offenses, and 15% had prior child pornography offenses. One-third were concurrently charged with other crimes at the time they were charged for child pornography offenses. The average time at risk was 2.5 years; 17% of the sample offended again in some way during this time, and 4% committed a new contact sexual offense. Child pornography offenders with prior criminal records were significantly more likely to offend again in any way during the follow-up period. Child pornography offenders who had committed a prior or concurrent contact sexual offense were the most likely to offend again, either generally or sexually.
This study compared a group of 104 adult male sex offenders who received community cognitive-behavioral treatment, correctional supervision, and periodic polygraph compliance exams with a matched group of 104 sex offenders who received the same type of treatment and supervision services but no polygraph exams. Polygraph exams focused on whether participants were following their conditions of community supervision and treatment and had avoided committing new sexual offenses. The two groups were exact pair-wise matched on three variables: (1) Static-99 risk score (Hanson & Thornton 2000, Law and Human Behavior, 24, 119-136), (2) status as a completer of prison sex offender treatment, and (3) date placed in the community. At fixed 5-year follow-up periods, the number of individuals in the polygraph group charged with committing a new non-sexual violent offense was significantly lower than in the no polygraph group (2.9% versus 11.5%). However, there were no significant between-group differences for the number of individuals charged for new sexual (5.8% versus 6.7%), any sexual or violent (8.7% versus 16.3%), or any criminal offense (39.4% versus 34.6%). The results are discussed in terms of their clinical and research implications.
This book is not a diatribe against eroticism or a moral crusade to stamp out sex. Rather, it is an attack on the international industry in pornography which, in abusing and degrading women desensitizes people to the routine discrimination and violence that its opponents claim it engenders. Including contributions by Catherine A. Mackinnon, Michael Moorcock, Andrea Dworkin, and Ray Wyre, these challenging, uncompromising, and passionate essays examine such topics as the different types of pornographic material, the possible links between pornography and rape, child abuse, and discrimination, the ineffectiveness of the Obscene Publications Act, and the need for legislation against pornography without censorship: to enable victims of pornography-related harm to seek redress and for an equivalent to the Race Relations Act to permit the prosecution of cases of incitement to sexual hatred and violence. Contributors: Peter Baker, Deborah Cameron, James V. P. Check, Andrea Dworkin, Michele Elliott, Aminatta Forna, Elizabeth Frazer, H. Patricia Hynes, I-Spy Productions, Catherine Itzin, Susanne Kappeler, Liz Kelly, Catharine A. MacKinnon, Michael Moorcock, Janice Raymond, Diana E. H. Russell, John Stoltenberg, Corinne Sweet, Tim Tate, James Weaver, and Ray Wyre.
This study compared a group of 104 adult male sex offenders who received community cognitive-behavioral treatment, correctional supervision, and periodic polygraph compliance exams with a matched group of 104 sex offenders who received the same type of treatment and supervision services but no polygraph exams. Polygraph exams focused on whether participants were following their conditions of community supervision and treatment and had avoided committing new sexual offenses. The two groups were exact pair-wise matched on three variables: (1) Static-99 risk score (Hanson & Thornton 2000, Law and Human Behavior, 24, 119-136), (2) status as a completer of prison sex offender treatment, and (3) date placed in the community. At fixed 5-year follow-up periods, the number of individuals in the polygraph group charged with committing a new non-sexual violent offense was significantly lower than in the no polygraph group (2.9% versus 11.5%). However, there were no significant between-group differences for the number of individuals charged for new sexual (5.8% versus 6.7%), any sexual or violent (8.7% versus 16.3%), or any criminal offense (39.4% versus 34.6%). The results are discussed in terms of their clinical and research implications.
The use of polygraph testing as an integral part of sex offender evaluation, treatment, and monitoring is analyzed in this article. The analysis discusses the relative validity of standard applications of polygraph testing of sex offenders including instant offense polygraph tests, monitoring polygraph tests, and sexual history disclosure polygraph tests. The relative differences of each of these frequently used tests are considered along with implications for test validity. The functions of relevant issue questions, test administration, individual mental sets, and intellectual functioning on the validity of polygraph testing with sex offenders also are addressed. The conclusion reached is that, while polygraph testing is an important tool for sex offender treatment, far too much credence is given to its perceived validity, particularly as it pertains to polygraph tests used for the purpose of detecting deception relevant to sex offender monitoring and sexual history disclosure tests.
This article examines the extant research on the use of pornography by sexual offenders and some of the debates engendered by such use. The analyses should assist in clarifying a number of issues of concern for all who work in the field of sexual offending.
In this paper I return to my work in Pornography: Women, Violence and Civil Liberties, the edited volume published in 1992 by Oxford University Press, and subsequently my work on pornography, harm and human rights (Itzin, 1995, 1996a), and to pornography and child sexual abuse (Itzin, 1996b, 1997a,b, 2000a,b,c). I draw from and build on that work and from the contents of the pornography special issue of the Journal of Sexual Aggression (Itzin and Cox, 2000). This paper covers key issues such as legislation and regulation, censorship' and ‘freedom’, the literature on pornography effects, the role of pornography in the aetiology of sex offending and in the construction of desire. In particular, the paper is concerned with theorising aetiology, causality and the ‘epistemology of public policy’ on pornography. It draws from and builds on the scholarship and activism of radical feminism in conceptualising and campaigning against pornography-related harm.
This study measures the sexually violent content in magazine, video, and Usenet (Internet newsgroup) pornography. Specifically, the level of violence, the amount of consensual and nonconsensual violence, and the gender of both victim and victimizer are compared. A consistent increase in the amount of violence from one medium to the next is found, although the increase between magazines and videos is not statistically significant. Further, both magazines and videos portray the violence as consensual, while the Usenet portrays it as nonconsensual. Third, magazines portray women as the victimizers more often than men, while the Usenet differs sharply and portrays men as the victimizers far more often. A series of possible explanations for these findings are offered, with the conclusion that the competition among men on the Usenet is an under‐analyzed component of the differences among these media.
The objective of this paper is to provide an integrative analysis of several sets of evidence, derived from contrasting approaches to the reduction of recidivism amongst convicted offenders. The first approach is based on deterrence, an expectation that legal sanctions will have a suppressant effect on crime rates, both for adjudicated offenders (specific deterrence) and the population as a whole (general deterrence). The second approach is based on evidence concerning the impact of intervention programmes, focused on specific forms of treatment or training (sometimes labelled ‘rehabilitative') directly designed to alter risk factors associated with the occurrence of criminal acts (criminogenic needs). Evidence concerning the comparative effects of these approaches is reviewed and general conclusions proposed.
This book examines what we know--and what we do not know--about sex offenders, victims, and sex crimes. It attempts to determine whether the current wisdom on which recently passed laws in the U.S. are based is accurate. Enough time has passed since these laws were first enacted to see whether they work and are cost-effective. In short, the author examines the new weapons being used to fight sex offenders and then discuss what we should--and should not--do to win this war. This book covers a broad range of issues, including state-of-the-art research on sex offenders, sex crimes, and victims; cutting-edge constitutional analysis of new laws; and intensive public policy evaluation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The Meese Commission Report claims exposure to pornography leads to sex offenses and states it is important to examine the developmental patterns of offenders, in particular age of first masturbatory experience, role of pornography in that experience, age of first exposure to pornography, age of commission of the deviant behavior, and long-term use of pornography and length of duration of deviancy. This study found the frequency of use of pornography, age of exposure to pornography, age of first masturbation experience, and use of pornography during first masturbation experience, for sex offenders, paraphiliacs, sexual dysfunction patients, and controls were not significantly different.
There is considerable consensus in this and other societies that adult sexual behavior with children is exploitative and victimizing in nature. The publications of three United States pedophile organizations that advocate adult sexual behavior with children and that are politically and socially active in attempts to decriminalize that behavior--the Rene Guyon Society, the Childhood Sensuality Circle, and the North American Man/Boy Love Association--are analyzed as to how they justify, normalize, or rationalize their practices and philosophy in light of that consensus. The framework for that analysis is the sociological concept of techniques of neutralization.
The Meese Commission Report claimed exposure to sexually explicit material leads to sex offenses and recommended examining developmental patterns and pornography experiences of offenders. This second phase of our study examines developmental patterns and sexually explicit material experiences of sex offenders, a subgroup of child molesters, and controls. Results indicate sex offenders (but not the child molester subgroup) began masturbating at a significantly younger age than controls. Sexually explicit material was used during the first masturbatory experience of 33.3% of sex offenders and 14% of controls. Child molesters were significantly older than controls when exposed to sexually explicit material. Frequency of adult use of sexually explicit material does not differ significantly among groups.
This paper presents a case study of a man charged with the offense of downloading child pornography from the Internet. He had used the Internet to traffic child pornography, and, in addition, to locate children to abuse, to engage in inappropriate sexual communication with children, and to communicate with other pedophiles. Such offenses were facilitated by self-representing in Chat rooms as both a child and an adult. The case study illustrates how such offenders move through a repertoire of offending behavior and discusses the role that the Internet can play in supporting inappropriate and disinhibited sexual behavior that victimizes children through the trading of child pornography and possible child seduction. The Internet is seen to play a unique role in allowing individuals to self-represent aspects that might otherwise remain hidden or dormant.
A two-dimensional risk assessment system for sexual offenders was created that can classify them for risk of sexual recidivism, risk of nonsexual violent recidivism, and the composite risk of reconviction for sexual or nonsexual assaults. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses of separate follow-up samples were used for cross-validation. The system is easier to score than Static-99, and substantially easier to score than the VRAG or SORAG, while yielding comparable predictive accuracy in cross-validation samples with follow-ups from 2 years to 19 years. ROC AUC coefficients between.74 and.81 were found for the different scales and samples.
The Internet opens a vast array of communication, entertainment, and educational resources for children; however, it also opens a gateway to home and school for offenders who wish to exploit children. A convenience sample of 225 cases published in the news media was examined. The cases were classified using law enforcement terminology to describe Internet offenders as traders, travelers, or combination trader-travelers. The media is seen as a critical source of information for the public to be aware of how the Internet is being used to commit sexual exploitation and sex crimes against children.
Sexual exploitation of children over the Internet: The face of a child predator and other issues
- Hernandez
Hernandez, A. E. (2006, September). Sexual exploitation of children over the Internet: The face of a child predator and other issues. Paper presented before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Committee on Energy and Commerce at the United States House of Representatives Washington D.C.: United States Department of Justice.
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