Background and Objectives: The rise in cases of online child sexual exploitation has become a global problem. Understanding both the psychological profiles of this offender group and the strategies employed during the process of exploitation, is crucial for aiding prevention and detection of these crimes as well as informing treatment and educational programmes. Thus, there were two main aims of the thesis. Firstly, a systematic review was conducted to investigate the psychological characteristics of online child sexual offenders (OCSO). Secondly, research was carried out to examine the utility of a pre-existing process model of grooming in the online sexual exploitation of children (O'Connell, 2003). Methodology: A systematic search of papers published between 2006 and 2016 was carried out. Those eligible for inclusion measured psychological characteristics using psychometric tools. A quality checklist was designed to appraise the methodological robustness of each paper. For the research study, qualitative content analysis of 63 online chat logs between offenders and children was undertaken. Logs were initially coded for correspondence to stages and strategies outlined by O'Connell, and additional codes assigned to themed text that did not fit this model. Results: The systematic review revealed fourteen papers for inclusion, and collective strengths and weaknesses were identified. Compared to contact offenders, few differences in psychological characteristics were identified; however tentative evidence suggests that online offenders experience greater interpersonal deficits whilst contact offenders present with more antisocial difficulties. Qualitative content analysis of chat logs revealed partial support for O'Connell's model. Several offender strategies proposed to take place during the sexual stage were evidenced. However, no logs showed evidence of all six stages. Additional offender strategies identified included flattery and minimising their behaviour. Various child strategies were identified, with children refusing all sexual advances in the majority of logs (n=34). Conclusions: Generic sexual offender treatment packages may not best meet the needs of OCSO. An alternative is discussed. Future research should focus on the development of psychometric tools for use with OCSO. Offenders appear heterogeneous in their approach to online sexual exploitation of children. Effective educational programmes must emphasise the speed at which many offenders will introduce sexual content, for whom traditional notions of grooming do not apply.

The psychological and physiological effects of work-related stress on law enforcement causes high morbidity and mortality rates and rates of alcoholism, substance abuse, domestic violence, and suicide higher than the national average. The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was to examine whether work-related stress experienced by child sexual exploitation (CSE) and child sexual abuse (CSA) investigators differ from that of other duty assigned subgroups. I used Karasek's job demands-control model as the theoretical framework for this study. I conducted the study within a medium sized law enforcement agency in eastern Washington State. The sample in the quantitative study consisted of 27 law enforcement officers from 17 duty-assigned subgroups who completed McCreary and Thompson's Operational Police Stress Survey (PSQ-Op) and Organizational Police Stress Questionnaire (PSQ-Org). The sample in the qualitative study consisted of 7 law enforcement officers who answered 5 researcher developed questions during a telephone interview. Descriptive statistics, a Pearson's correlation analysis, and linear regression analysis of the PSQ-Op and PSQ-Org revealed no significant difference in reported work-related stress experienced within the duty-assigned subgroups, revealing no correlative difference of stress experienced by CSE and CSA investigators and the other duty assigned subgroups due to job demands and job control. Content analysis of the qualitative interviews revealed themes that supported the finding of the quantitative study. The findings of this study support the need for law enforcement leaders to take preemptive measures to mitigate the effects of work-related stress on all law enforcement officers.

An extensive review of research and policy literature revealed that links are made between: going missing and forced marriage; going missing and child sexual exploitation; and forced marriage and child sexual exploitation. However, despite these overlaps, no links are made between all three issues. Given that some South Asian young women will run away from home in order to avoid being forced into marriage and that young people who run away or go missing from home are at risk of, or abused, through child sexual exploitation a research proposition was developed on the basis that a three way link was theoretically possible. A case study methodology was developed to test the research proposition. Eight cases were identified in which South Asian young people (under 18 years of age) had experienced some combination of all three issues. However, the pattern identified within the research proposition was not the ‘final explanation’. Analysis of the research findings revealed that variation existed within the pattern proposed. Moreover, a second pattern was identified in which forced marriage emerged as a parental response to young people who were already being sexually exploited and going missing in this context. The patterns identified were confirmed through analysis of interviews undertaken with twelve subject experts (key informants) and resonated with a specifically selected group of nine young people who were presented with a composite case study during focus group discussion. I argue that awareness of patterns linking all three issues will help practitioners to identify and respond appropriately to cases where the issues of going missing, forced marriage and child sexual exploitation overlap. That said the complexity of the cases highlighted risks associated with overlooking diversities: social divisions related to age, gender, ethnicity, class, sexuality and disability were explored to see how they shaped the young people’s experiences. This process revealed that they were located within complex axes of power which then intersected with social systems, including family, community and public institutions. As a consequence, young people lacked relational support and had limited access to safe accommodation and economic resources. This resulted in some young people making attempts to try and self-manage the competing harms that they were facing. The practitioners who supported the young people highlighted the challenges involved in working with them. Analysis of practitioners’ accounts further revealed how power dynamics within multi-agency working arrangements also impacted their efforts to respond to the needs of young people. Through testing the research proposition, I addressed a recognised need for more focused research into the issue of going missing as it relates to young people from different ethnic backgrounds (Berelowitz et al. 2012; Berelowitz et al., 2013; OCC, 2012; Patel, 1994; Safe on the Streets Research Team, 1999; Stein et al. 1994) as well as furthering knowledge about how child sexual exploitation is experienced by young people from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities (Chase & Statham, 2004; CEOP, 2011b; Jago et al., 2011; Berelowitz et al., 2013; Thiara & Gill, 2010; Kelly, 2013; Ward & Patel, 2006). The development of a typology of patterns linking going missing, forced marriage and child sexual exploitation provides a unique contribution to the scholarly literature.

Background: The victimization of children has been a prevalent issue long before the emergence of social media. The rapid development of the world wide web during the last decades has created more ways to get access to anyone anywhere at any time. This has brought along a yearly increase in the number of children who are abused online with the help of technological devices. So far, the existing research in the field of online grooming has been limited and especially in Estonia. Although the problem has been acknowledged, little is known about the offenders and how they target children for sexual purposes. Aim: The thesis aims to create a fuller picture of different types of online offenders in Estonia by using typology formed by the European Online Grooming Project. Furthermore, it looks into the rational choice processes of these offenders and how they establish a connection with their victims for personal sexual gratification while minimizing their risk of getting caught. Method: The data consists of 13 court cases of offenders who were found guilty in 2017-2022. The documents were accessed in Estonian Harju County Court and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: The results showed that the most common types of online offenders in Estonia are intimacy-seeking and adaptable. The findings add support to previous research, showing that most online offenders use different controlling tactics like emotional abuse, threatening, blackmailing, and flattery to benefit their chances of gaining sexual gratification from the relationship. To minimize their chances of getting caught, the offenders had chosen vulnerable victims, faked details about their personal information, used different social media applications to their own benefit, and consistently asked the victims about their surrounding environment. Conclusion: The findings of the study are in line with previous research about the typologies and strategies of online groomers whilst providing new data for future research on the topic. The hope is that with a deeper analysis of the groomers behavior, the study helps to create further preventative measures to decrease the number of potential future victims.

Abstract Domestic minor sex trafficking in the United States is a human rights issue and social problem affecting over 300,000 children ages 12-17, 43% of whom are African American girls. This survey was an exploration of domestic minor sex trafficking knowledge among African American parents and their protective strategies to prevent victimization. Ecological systems theory provided a conceptual framework to examine the environmental factors shaping parental knowledge. The sample consisted of 2 Southern California African American churches (n = 38, n = 32) that served different socioeconomic groups. The African American Sex Trafficking Knowledge survey was researcher designed and pretested by 7 police colleagues. The qualitative data analysis provided sample demographic specifics and associated themes on their knowledge and strategy. Both had basic information about minor sex trafficking, but were unaware of its presence in their communities or the availability of local resources, if needed. Parents believed their children became insulated from victimization because they engaged in protective measures. The social change implications included building and coordinating resources in African American communities with the goal of reducing the high victimization rate of African American children. African American churches as family resource centers could facilitate meaningful parent-child dialogues about sex trafficking. This partnership could initiate innovative preventive programs with community organizations. The outcome could be a model for creating effective culturally-sensitive prevention programs for not only African American families, but also other vulnerable groups.

<p>The live streaming of child sexual abuse is a serious problem that demands urgent attention from law enforcement, legislature, and the platforms that it occurs on. While child sexual exploitation and abuse crimes have been occurring for decades, the growing number of internet users combined with the recent Covid-19 outbreak has shifted a lot of these crimes online. Crimes that occur over live streams are particularly difficult to investigate. Previous research has highlighted four main types of challenges associated with these types of cases: legislative, social, technical, and investigative. While studies have been conducted that explored these challenges individually, this study fills a research gap by exploring which of these challenges affect law enforcement personnel that work live-streamed child sexual abuse cases post-Covid-19. For this study, an anonymous online survey was sent out to law enforcement individuals and agencies nationwide. The survey was actively distributed for one month. Out of the 29 responses received, 13 participants qualified to take the survey and were asked about the challenges they faced working these types of cases and about any solutions to these challenges. After collecting the data, descriptive statistics identified the challenges, and a thematic analysis was conducted. Following a grounded theory process, the analysis identified five main themes that encompassed multiple types of challenges and solutions. These themes were: a lack of consensus, education, the role of application service providers and platforms, a need for better technology, and out-of-jurisdiction challenges. These themes explored in-depth the participants’ responses and further identified the challenges facing law enforcement that work live-streamed child sexual abuse cases, as well as any current solutions to these challenges. Two main challenges frequently mentioned by the participants were end-to-end encryption and anonymizing services, and one of the main solutions to many of the challenges was the education of parents, children, and legislators. For future research, the author recommends exploration of the following topics: the investigation of the factors that play strong roles in determining the time it takes to investigate live-streamed child sexual abuse cases, research related to how AI could assist law enforcement working these cases, further exploration of a framework for the education of parents and children about social media usage and the risks of live streaming, how social platforms can be used in many ways, and research that examines how often law enforcement encounters live-streamed child sexual abuse cases/whether these cases are common or not. </p>

The aim of this qualitative research study was to explore the influences of pornographic material on the sexual exploitation of children. An interpretive research method, based on phenomenological principles, was followed. A total of 18 semistructured interviews were conducted with sentenced sex offenders who had committed an offence against a child (a person under the age of 18). The research findings, obtained through a process of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), highlighted personal and family characteristics that could increase individuals’ susceptibility to the effect of exposure to pornographic material. Moreover, it was found that early, recurrent exposure to pornography results in physical, cognitive and behavioural influences that considerably increase the level of sexual satisfaction and need for instantaneous sexual gratification. This uncontrollable need for sexual gratification often results in destructive behaviour such as addiction to pornographic material, criminal sexual acts involving children and damage to the family system. The effect of sexually explicit material is furthermore intensified by the availability of pornographic material on the Internet, which considerably increases the likelihood of individuals being exposed to a variety of pornographic images, including illegal material such as child pornography. Based on the outcomes of the research study, it can be concluded that pornography does have an effect on human behaviour in relation to the sexual exploitation of children which necessitates the effective regulation of pornographic material, especially on the Internet, and the evaluation of the help profession’s approach to effectively deal with issues stemming from exposure to pornographic material / Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

The aim of this qualitative research study was to explore the influences of pornographic material on the sexual exploitation of children. An interpretive research method, based on phenomenological principles, was followed. A total of 18 semistructured interviews were conducted with sentenced sex offenders who had committed an offence against a child (a person under the age of 18). The research findings, obtained through a process of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), highlighted personal and family characteristics that could increase individuals’ susceptibility to the effect of exposure to pornographic material. Moreover, it was found that early, recurrent exposure to pornography results in physical, cognitive and behavioural influences that considerably increase the level of sexual satisfaction and need for instantaneous sexual gratification. This uncontrollable need for sexual gratification often results in destructive behaviour such as addiction to pornographic material, criminal sexual acts involving children and damage to the family system. The effect of sexually explicit material is furthermore intensified by the availability of pornographic material on the Internet, which considerably increases the likelihood of individuals being exposed to a variety of pornographic images, including illegal material such as child pornography. Based on the outcomes of the research study, it can be concluded that pornography does have an effect on human behaviour in relation to the sexual exploitation of children which necessitates the effective regulation of pornographic material, especially on the Internet, and the evaluation of the help profession’s approach to effectively deal with issues stemming from exposure to pornographic material / Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)