4 Week Masters' Program Cybercrime Class
Robert M. Worley, Ph.D.
Holt, Thomas J. (2016). Crime Online (3rd ed.). Carolina academic press: Durham, NC.
Chapter 5: Cybercrime Trajectories Chapter 6: Internet Child Pornography
Chapter 7: The Erotic Highway
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Chapter 5: Cybercrime Trajectories: An Integrated Theory of Initiation, Maintenance, and Desistance
Cybercrime Theories
There are multiple criminological theories that may inform our understanding of cybercrime offending
Mertonian strain
Differential association
Techniques of neutralization
Rational choice theory
Data For This Study
This study utilized three qualitative data sources to examine how well these theories account for offending:
Court documents
Interviews with offenders
Interviews with law enforcement
Cybercrime Offending
It is important to differentiate between technical and general cybercrime offending
Technical offenses require unique and specialized skills
General offenses do not depend on technical prowess to be effective
Creates different trajectories and paths to offend
Initiation of Offending
General offenders begin to engage in cybercrime due to opportunities presented
Mertonian strain
Technical offenders begin based on peer associations that facilitate information sharing
Differential associations
Maintenance of Offending
Both technical and general offenders continue to engage in cybercrime because of two factors
Economic incentives
Low risk of identification
Model of Offending Pathways
Initiation
Maintenance
Desistence
Strain
Associations with others
Low likelihood of detection
Benefits relating to offending
Costs outweigh benefits
Presented opportunity
Learn skills and neutralisations
General pathway
Technical pathway
Conclusions
This integrated model requires greater research to assess its validity
What factors account for the gender differences observed?
What is the rate of maturation out of cybercrime like?
Chapter 6: Internet Child Pornography: Legal Issues and Investigative Tactics
Introduction
With growth in science and technology, increased concern over protection of children
Law enforcement have created specialized units for protection of children
New legislation enacted
What role does the Internet play in child pornography, pedophilia, and sexually deviant paraphilia?
Scope and Context
Lack of statistics regarding Internet sexually deviant behavior
Organizations have tried to provide these data
Results in inflated numbers
No information regarding where the statistics came from
Global perspective
Laws and sanctions depend on country
Not uniform although it is a global problem
The COPINE Project
Combating Pedophile Information Networks in Europe (1997)
Research and explore the Internet and victimization of children
Ten levels of child pornography images depending severity of victimization
Indicative, nudist, erotica, posing, erotic posing, explicit erotic posing, explicit sexual activity, assault, gross assault, sadistic/bestiality
For most legislatures, illegal to possess 7, 8, 9, or 10
Direct interaction with victim
Continuum
Continuum is the best way to think of child pornography offenses
Not all types are the same as far as level of victimization
Classification involves images which are not criminally sanctioned
This approach allows for better understanding of those collectors
Psychological traits and characteristic
Each level should be assessed using size, novelty, and age of victim
The Courts and COPINE
COPINE has influences research as well as legislation
Sentencing of pornography offenders
Some countries have adopted this scale
United States has not utilized COPE scale or anything similar in federal courts
Developed sentencing guidelines for sexual exploitation of a minor
Harsher sentences depending on type of pornography
Focus on violent offenses and size of collections
Hypothetical Case Study
Used doll images and created a hypothetical collection of images
Consisted of non-child-pornography images and images taken from law enforcement
Reader is to assume the collection taken from suspect accused of child pornography
Discussion of photographs
Criticisms of Court Image Classifications
Sentencing guideline in U.S., England, Wales, and Canada based on quantity and content of images
COPINE was developed as a way of discriminating between images in a collection
Lack of empirical validation of sentencing guidelines
Reflect political agendas and moral panic over Internet predators
United States is in need of a classification system based on COPINE
Models
Lanning Model
Situational vs. preferential
Krone Model
Rogers and Seigfried-Spellar Hybrid Model
Case study
Conclusions
Need to better understand the technology and those who use it
Need to harmonize international law
Need to identify root causes of behavior
Utilize typologies
Chapter 7: On the Erotic Highway: A Participant-Observer Approach to Researching Users of a Prostitute Review Website
Prostitution Review Websites
There are a range of websites that exist where individuals can post about and review the experiences of sex workers
TER is a main site in this community
Author became a participant and moderator because of her clinical experience
Posters utilize a unique vernacular to describe experiences and communicate
Hobbyist, YMMV
The GFE
The girlfriend experience (GFE) is a critical experience for customers of prostitutes
Makes the experience transcend the paid encounter
Makes it feel like a consensual relationship
The experience of the researcher led her to try to find ways to better understand the impact of the GFE on the experience of posters
The TER Study
The research implemented a survey to better assess the experiences of posters, particularly regarding emotional attachment to all-time favorite providers
Found most were white, heterosexual, married males with college degrees
Many had vaginal sex or oral sex with condoms
Many identified providers via the website
The experience of GFEs and the attitude of workers were significant factors in their preference for providers
Sought mostly white providers
More than half of divorced or separated clients fell in love with providers
The TER Study
The forum community banned the researcher after the study was conducted
Why and how do people conduct research on this community?