The occurrence of child sex abuse in the United States has long been considered a problem of paramount importance (e.g. Durkin, 2002; Howitt, 2008; Jenkins, 1998). Historically, the primary assumption was that the sexual solicitation of children occurred face-to-face. However, with the advent of communication technologies, people began to realize the internet's role in child solicitation. In an effort to combat this mode of child luring, a concerned citizen created P-J, an organization that seeks to identify and incriminate online predators (OPs). Members of this organization (PJMs) wait in online spaces for OPs to approach them. Then PJMs communicate as if they are minors to gather incriminating evidence against the OPs. PJMs and OPs have incompatible goals for their interactions. OPs' aim to foster a sexual relationship with a minor without being punished for it. PJMs' aim to gather enough evidence against OPs to convict them and prevent the future luring of children. To accomplish these goals, PJMs and OPs communicate with each other and face unique dilemmas in doing so. The current dissertation employs Action-Implicative Discourse Analysis (AIDA; Tracy, 1995), a theory-method package that helps identify strategies used by interactants to address their institutionally based communicative dilemmas, to answer the research questions: 1) How do PJMs communicatively address their dilemma of encouraging online predators to pursue sexual contact without entrapping or making OPs suspicious, and 2) How do OPs communicatively address their dilemma of seducing their targets without getting caught or scaring off the presumed minor? By doing so, the project expands extant knowledge of grooming and computer-mediated self-presentation. It also extends the use of AIDA to contexts beyond organizations and formal institutions. Through the sampling and constant comparison procedure of 40 PJM-OP instant messenger transcripts provided by the organization's website, the researcher identified four overarching categories of strategies that PJMs used to manage their dilemma: Target Presentation, OP Safety, Sexual/Relational Contribution Management, and Bust Facilitation. The researcher also identified five overarching categories of strategies for OPs: Identity Establishment, Relationship Management, Safety Precautions, Sexual Communication Engagement, and Meet Facilitation. Within these categories are many strategies PJMs and OPs utilized in an effort to address their dilemmas of attaining their goals while avoiding risks. By identifying the aforementioned strategies, the researcher satisfied her primary goal of recognizing and understanding how PJMs and OPs attempt to reach their respective goals while avoiding risks. In addition to fulfilling this primary goal, the results of this project entail implications for several different lines of research. Specifically, the results of this dissertation extend research on traditional and online grooming, self-presentation online, and AIDA. The results also provide practical implications concerning what adolescents should be wary of when communicating with unknown others online. Additionally, the study has the capacity to help PJMs become more aware of OPs' strategies as well as their own. This awareness could help PJMs more efficiently train new PJMs and gain a deeper understanding of their interactions.

This research study was conducted to determine if there were significant differences or relationships between teachers' perceptions of knowledge of Internet dangers to students and factors such as demographics, self-reported comfort levels with Internet use, and with knowledge of policies and laws regarding Internet safety. Three hundred seventy-two teachers from three central Florida school districts were surveyed using an adapted survey developed by authors Patchin and Hinduja (2006) and Willard (2006, 2009). The world of the Internet is constantly changing, and students will encounter harassment and dangers while pursuing their interests on line. Recent research on the types of Internet dangers involving youth (Hinduja & Patchin, 2009; Juvonen & Gross, 2008, Leichtling, 2008; Lenhart, Madden & Hitlin, 2005; Li, 2007; Willard, 2009), and evidence supporting limited adult knowledge of Internet dangers to youth (Finkelhor, Mitchell & Wolak, 2000; Hinduja & Patchin, 2009; Patchin & Hinduja, 2006; Willard, 2006,2009) provided the conceptual framework for this study. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed to investigate each research question. These statistics included one-way ANOVA, Scheffe post-hoc analysis, chi-square tests of independence, independent T-tests, and Kruskal-Wallis tests. These findings demonstrated that the null hypotheses were rejected for each research question. Significant differences were found between teachers' knowledge of Internet dangers and age, years of experience, level of school taught, and personal comfort with the Internet. Other significant relationships were found between personal Internet comfort and knowledge of laws and policies, specifically the Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act, and between male teachers and knowledge of victim behaviors. Gender was the only demographic variable found to be not significantly related to a teachers' knowledge of Internet dangers to students. The implications of these results validate the importance of more teacher training to increase knowledge of Internet dangers, policies and programs, as well as increase teachers' ability to identify victims and provide them with assistance. As technology expands, Internet dangers for children online expand and are a growing concern for parents, teachers, and administrators. Since technology will continue to grow, adults play a major role in educating children concerning the dangers of being online. However, adults struggle to play catch-up to the young digital natives, and are not really present to intervene when needed. We cannot cross the digital divide and help our students if we are not seeking out the information ourselves (Willard, 2009).

Sexualbrott mot barn på internet har blivit ett världsproblem som ständigt växer. Med den nya teknologin som konstant utvecklas bildas även nya möjligheter för förövare att utnyttja barn på internet. Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att få en ökad förståelse för hur förövare går tillväga för att utnyttja barn på internet samt vilka typer av sexualbrott mot barn som förekommer på internet. Studien inkluderade femton vetenskapliga artiklar som analyserats med en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Analysen resulterade i fyra huvudkategorier; offentliga chattrum, strategi, fysiska möten, och typer av sexualbrott mot barn på internet samt åtta underkategorier; relation, utpressning, gromning, manipulation, undvika upptäckt barnpornografi, sexhandel och digitala mötesforum. Genom att skapa trovärdiga relationer, gromning, utpressning och manipulation utnyttjas barn till att begå sexuella aktiviteter som kan inkludera sex. Brottet börjar oftast med kommunikation genom offentliga chattrum som tillåter användare att kommunicera via direkta meddelande, ljud och videochatt. Samtalen utvecklas sedan till mer sexuella ämnen där förövaren använder olika strategier för att bland annat träffa barnet i verkligheten, få nakenbilder eller på andra sätt utnyttja barnet. Genom att försäkra sig om att barnet inte talat om för någon om deras relation säkrar de sin möjlighet att inte åka fast. Brottet kan ske på olika sätt dels genom våldtäkt, sexhandel och barnpornografi. Studien diskuterar de juridiska problem som kan uppstå med mätning av barnpornografi och definitionen av ett barn. Vidare bör framtida forskning fokusera på möjligheter att begränsa åtkomsten till exponerande material och webbsidor som tillåter vuxna individer att kommunicera med barn på ett sexuellt sätt. / Sexual crimes against children on the internet are recognized as a serious and growing problem world-wide. With the new technology that is constantly evolving, new opportunities are being created for perpetrators to exploit children on the internet. The purpose with this systematic literature review was to gain an increased understanding of how perpetrators approach and abuse children on the internet and what types of sexual offenses against children that occur on the internet. The review included fifteen scientific papers analyzed with a qualitative content analysis. The analysis resulted in four main categories; public chat rooms, strategy, physical meetings, and types of sexual offenses against children on the internet, and eight subcategories; relationship, extortion, grooming, manipulation, avoid being discovered child pornography, sex trade and digital meeting forums. By creating credible relationships, grooming, extortion and manipulation, children are exploited to commit sexual activities that may include sex. The crime usually starts with communication through public chat rooms that allow users to communicate via direct message, audio and video chat. The conversation is then developed into more sexual subjects where the perpetrator uses different strategies to meet the child in reality, get nude pictures or in other ways utilize the child. By ensuring that the child has not spoken to someone about their relationship, they secure their opportunity not to get caught. The crime can be done in various ways, partly through rape, sex trafficking and child pornography. The study discusses the juridical problems that can occur with instruments measuring child pornography and the definition of a child. Future research should focus on opportunities to limit access to exposure materials and web pages that allow adult individuals to communicate with children with purpose of sexual interactions.