Young people, child pornography, and subcultural norms on the Internet

The effect of therapeutic and deterrent messages on Internet users attempting to access 'barely legal' pornography

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.

"Almost Looks Illegal": Family Dick's Daddy's Little Boy Gay Pornography Series and Its Too-Young Look

Family Dick is a commercial gay pornography website that has courted controversy for both its stepfather-son theme and for the youthful stylings of its Daddy's Little Boy series. This article reads viewer commentary (selected from more than 700 comments) of scenes within the series posted to its Pornhub channel. Textual analysis is employed to read the series itself and its distinctive esthetic, which logically leads to discussion of views on the too-young "look" of the series and the use of certain "legislative language" by those who deem the content to be potentially unlawful. The article also considers the implications resultant from the range of views presented in the discourse and a tendency for the series to inspire viewers to reflect on personal experiences and desires. As the first study of its kind, it ends by nominating a range of future research directions.

Effects of Automated Messages on Internet Users Attempting to Access "Barely Legal" Pornography

With the increasing number of individuals accessing online child sexual exploitation material (CSEM), there is an urgent need for primary prevention strategies to supplement the traditional focus on arrest and prosecution. We examined whether online warning messages would dissuade individuals from visiting a honeypot website purporting to contain barely legal pornography. Participants (n = 419) seeking the site were randomly assigned to one of five conditions; they went straight to the landing page (control; n = 100) or encountered a warning message advising of the potential harm to viewers (n = 74), potential harm to victims (n = 65), ability of police to track IP addresses (n = 81), or possible illegality of such pornography (n = 99). We measured the attempted click-through to the site. Attrition rates for the warning message conditions were 38% to 52%, compared with 27% for the control group. The most effective messages were those that warned that IP addresses can be traced (odds ratio [OR] = 2.64) and that the pornography may be illegal (OR = 2.99). We argue that warning messages offer a valuable and cost-effective strategy that can be scaled up to help reduce the accessing of CSEM online.

Development of the Cybercrime Rapid Identification Tool for Adolescents

Two studies were conducted to support the development of an eight-item Cybercrime Rapid Identification Tool (CRIT) and evaluate the psychometric properties of the proposed scale on samples of secondary school and university students. The CRIT was developed and evaluated in two cross-sectional studies with 2044 respondents from Hong Kong and China. Study 1 recruited 1533 secondary school students from Hong Kong with a mean age of 14.91 (SD = 1.77) years, and Study 2 recruited 511 university students from mainland China with a mean age of 20.41 (SD = 2.49) years. A stepwise confirmatory factor analytical approach was taken with further verification by exploratory factor analysis based on different samples. Factorial validity was further verified using confirmatory factor analysis. The analyses supported an eight-item scale with a two-factor structure. The eight-item CRIT was found to possess good internal consistency and concurrent validity. The studies offer promising support for the CRIT. It has the potential to advance epistemological methods and clinical research related to cybercrime prevention.

Understanding Men's Self-Reported Sexual Interest in Children

A few studies have found that even in the general population, a minority of adults-men as well as women-report some sexual interest in a young age group. The purpose of the present study was to identify factors associated with self-reported sexual interest in children among a community-based sample of men. Using an online survey methodology, we examined the extent to which different types of childhood adversities (witnessing parental violence, sexual, physical, and emotional abuse), atypical childhood sexual experiences, and participants' self-reported likelihood of engaging in a variety of sexual behaviors (heightened sexual interest) were related to sexual interest in children (SIC) reported by a non-forensic/non-clinical sample of 173 men. Data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression. After controlling for physical and emotional abuse and witnessing parental violence, self-reported experiences of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) significantly increased the amount of variance explained in SIC scores. However, only early masturbation and current heightened sexual interests contributed significantly to the final model. Total variance explained by the model as a whole was 24% (adjusted R² = 20%). Early masturbation and heightened sexual interests significantly mediated the relationship between CSA and SIC scores. Findings add to the small but growing body of literature examining the etiology of pedophilic sexual interests in non-clinical samples.

'I see it everywhere': young Australians unintended exposure to sexual content online

Background There are wide variations in the reported prevalence of exposure to sexual content online, but the literature tends not to distinguish between intended and unintended exposure. Moreover, there is little research exploring the pathways through which exposure occurs or descriptions of such content. While there is much public concern regarding exposure to sexual content, Australian students receive little or no education on mitigating the effect of sexual content online.

METHODS

Eleven focus group discussions with high school students aged 14-18 years were conducted to discover young people's experiences of exposure to sexual content in social media. In this paper, we describe these pathways to sexual content exposure, the nature of the sexual content young people are exposed to and their views about this exposure.

RESULTS

Focus groups showed that exposure to sexual content through social media occurred through networks of 'friends' or followers, and paid-for advertising. Content ranged from subtle messages or photos to explicit pornographic pictures/videos. Most of the exposure young people described was unintended.

CONCLUSIONS

Exposure to sexual content, no matter the scope and intensity, was almost unavoidable among young people who use social media. Utilising this information to educate young people on mitigating the effect of sexual content, rather than trying to prevent young people from viewing it, could be a more effective approach.

The Lived Experience of the Adolescent Sex Offender: A Phenomenological Case Study

Treatment for adolescents with sexually maladaptive behaviors is a continuing intervention that is changing and developing as greater understanding about this population of adolescents is obtained. The majority of treatment programs for adolescent sexually maladaptive behavior contain programming components that include cognitive distortions/thinking errors. Interviews including a conceptual mapping exercise were conducted with four adolescents adjudicated to a secure care program for sexual behaviors. All four boys completed an interview and a conceptual map of their perceived experiences as an adolescent with sexual maladaptive behaviors. All interviews were audio recorded. Analysis of the interviews and conceptual mappings yielded five themes present in the boys' experience as well as a consideration of the role early trauma may have in the establishment of cognitive distortion development. Contributing environmental and familial factors also play an important part in sustaining cognitive distortion. Main themes include: loss of responsible father or father figure, inability to regulate emotion, lack of personal and parental boundaries, and early exposure to pornography. The contributing influence of responsible male father figures may play an even greater role in the lives of young males than originally thought. How the adolescent inaccurately perceives his environment--in essence what he tells himself and continues to tell himself to make sense of his world--are building blocks in the development and continuation of thinking errors/cognitive distortions used to commit and justify sexual offending behaviors.