NCJ Number
227563
Journal
Aggression and Violent Behavior Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Dated: May/June 2009 Pages: 180-193
Date Published
June 2009
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study explored the links between contemporary etiological and offense-process theories of child sexual abuse and the individuals who commit offenses related to online child pornography.
Abstract
Results indicate that the market for child pornography appears to be huge, with a vast among of illegal images online and a massive audience motivated to consume it. The literature appears to suggest that internet offenders display clinical symptoms relating to intimacy and social skills deficits, deviant sexual interest, emotional dysregulation and offense-supportive cognitions; therefore, there is now potential scope to unpack the biological and neuropsychological assumptions of the integrated theory of sexual offending (ITSO). Recommended is the use of more qualitative approaches to the examination of these clinical constructs to determine a more specific understanding of how these relate to the internet offender population; still unknown is the etiological biological factors that may be causal to these symptoms, given that these offenders do not appear to have highly sexualized childhoods. There is, however, a positive message that with a focus on the correct identification of the motivations of an offender, coupled with a small number of specific theoretical addictions, current assessment and treatment for internet offenders based on sex offender theory is likely to be appropriate and effective. Figure and references