Sex Offenders And The Internet

Online, the opportunity to commit a crime is never more than a few clicks away. Sex Offenders and the Internet explores the nature of online sex offenders in order to help practitioners understand and treat this new category of client. Kerry Sheldon and Dennis Howitt examine the research base by reviewing case studies and psychological profiles, with a particular focus on paedophilic Internet sex offenders. Issues covered include child pornography, the often overlooked ‘excuses’ for paedophilia, and how we can move forward. The result is a book that comprehensively details the nature of Internet sex offenders, bringing together the relevant research into one essential volume.

"This volume follows my recent book on pedophilia and sexual offending against children, also published by the American Psychological Association (Seto, 2008). After that endeavor, which took almost 3 years to complete, I thought I would take a break before assuming the (satisfying) challenge of writing another book. But after a plenary talk on online offending I gave at the 2009 Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) conference in Dallas, Texas, a colleague, Jean Proulx, asked me why I was not writing a book about this topic, given the demand for knowledge about this emerging problem. That was a good question. It was clear that there was a great deal of demand because of the increasing number of cases seen by law enforcement and by clinicians; it was also clear that there was a lack of research.

"This volume follows my recent book on pedophilia and sexual offending against children, also published by the American Psychological Association (Seto, 2008). After that endeavor, which took almost 3 years to complete, I thought I would take a break before assuming the (satisfying) challenge of writing another book. But after a plenary talk on online offending I gave at the 2009 Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) conference in Dallas, Texas, a colleague, Jean Proulx, asked me why I was not writing a book about this topic, given the demand for knowledge about this emerging problem. That was a good question. It was clear that there was a great deal of demand because of the increasing number of cases seen by law enforcement and by clinicians; it was also clear that there was a lack of research. I was also motivated to write this book by a long-standing fascination with online technologies, beginning with reading Neuromancer (Gibson, 1984) as a high school student, with its description of cyberspace (a term that Gibson purportedly coined) and its crypto-dystopian view of the impact of online technologies on human freedom, capacity, and behavior. As someone who learned to create very basic computer programs using punch cards and then a teletype device connected to a university mainframe, I remember well the emergence of the World Wide Web, when websites were numbered in the hundreds rather than the hundreds of millions. Reflecting the fact that this book is about the way that the Internet can facilitate sexual offending, I rely heavily on online resources. Though I try to use permalinks whenever available, links can change over time; the documents might still be found, however, using search engines when links are no longer active. Also reflecting the nonlinearity and linkages of the Internet, this book includes footnotes and appendices that do not follow the main narrative but provide additional information and context about the content in the corresponding chapter. One can treat them like links or pop-up boxes while reading"--Preface. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Internet Child Abuse: Current Research and Policy provides a timely overview of international policy, legislation and offender management and treatment practice in the area of Internet child abuse. Internet use has grown considerably over the last five years, and information technology now forms a core part of the formal education system in many countries. There is however, increasing evidence that the Internet is used by some adults to access children and young people in order to ‘groom’ them for the purposes of sexual abuse; as well as to produce and distribute indecent illegal images of children. This book presents and assesses the most recent and current research on internet child abuse, addressing: its nature, the behaviour and treatment of its perpetrators, international policy, legislation and protection, and policing. It will be required reading for an international audience of academics, researchers, policy-makers and criminal justice practitioners with interests in this area.

Over the last decade there has been dramatically increased interest in the ways that technology has been used in the abuse and exploitation of children, due in part to increasing numbers of convictions for child pornography-related offenses. Opinion swings between those who feel that there is a danger of distorting the threat posed to children by technology, and those for whom it appears that the threat has been grossly underestimated. Current literature surrounding the debate at times seems to create more questions than answers and what quickly becomes apparent is that the data we have to inform our understanding is partial, potentially context specific, and at times seemingly contradictory. This book broadens our understanding of the complex nature of online sexual exploitation of children and considers the risk that those engaged in Internet-related offences pose to children in both the online and offline environments. It focuses on cutting-edge research and conceptual thinking that views perpetrators within context, examines those impacted by such offending, describes emerging legal and policy issues, and proposes innovative strategies for prevention within a dynamic global environment. Understanding and Preventing Online Sexual Exploitation of Children responds to the growing call for help across all practice areas, from judicial to therapeutic, and will provide an invaluable resource for practitioners and policy makers working in the field, as well as students and academics studying sexual exploitation and cyber crime.

This book examines the reality behind the often hysterical media coverage of child pornography, particularly that available via the internet.

How to Work with Sex Offenders is a cutting edge, state-of-the-art book that provides mental health professionals best practice techniques on how to clinically evaluate, interview, and treat this challenging patient population. Successful models of individual, family, and group models of psychotherapy are provided for the reader. In addition, this handbook walks the reader through the investigation, arrest, prosecution and court hearing process, from start to finish. Thoroughly revised, this new edition builds on additional research data and new information, adding advanced chapters on female offenders, Internet offenders, pornography, sexual addiction, rape and child and adolescent sexual misconduct. This is a must-read work for undergraduate and graduate students, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, child protection service workers, therapists, and other professionals who work with sex offenders.