‘I had no choice’: adult neutralisation of online sexual engagement with children

Article


Bradbury, P., Bleakley, P. and Martellozzo, E. 2024. ‘I had no choice’: adult neutralisation of online sexual engagement with children. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-024-09645-2
TypeArticle
Title‘I had no choice’: adult neutralisation of online sexual engagement with children
AuthorsBradbury, P., Bleakley, P. and Martellozzo, E.
Abstract

This study explores sexual contact between adults and minors on live internet chat websites like Omegle using the five-point framework of neutralisation to better understand how this behaviour is justified and rationalised by adult participants in such acts. A thematic content analysis was performed based on a sample of 100 requests for advice posted by anonymous users on two open-source platforms from legal professionals. These requests were all from unidentifiable adults. The key themes identified were ‘denial and minimisation of responsibility’, ‘the motivated poster’, ‘awareness of behaviour’, ‘child sexual abuse (CSA)’, and ‘content moderation and censorship’. The results highlight several processes of blame-shifting and neutralisation that are commonly used by adults when describing incidences of sexual contact with minors on Omegle. It enhances our understanding of sexual interactions occurring on live chat platforms, including those that are harmful and illegal, and presents opportunities for proactive intervention and moderation.

KeywordsOnline child sexual abuse; Social media; Cyberflashing; Neutralisation; Disinhibition
Sustainable Development Goals16 Peace, justice and strong institutions
Middlesex University ThemeHealth & Wellbeing
Research GroupCentre for Abuse and Trauma Studies (CATS)
PublisherSpringer
JournalJournal of Police and Criminal Psychology
ISSN0882-0783
Electronic1936-6469
Publication dates
Online15 Feb 2024
Publication process dates
Accepted19 Jan 2024
Deposited14 Nov 2024
Output statusPublished
Publisher's version
License
File Access Level
Open
Copyright Statement

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-024-09645-2
LanguageEnglish
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