The Internet as a creator of a criminal mind and child vulnerabilities in the cyber grooming of children

Abstract

Cyber grooming of children is a form of online child sexual abuse and a cybercriminal phenomenon on the rise. The previous literature explains this phenomenon by applying theories developed for the physical world, continuum models of offender and victim behavior, or process models of the act. This literature is silent on empirically addressing the role of cyber-specific behavioral variables in the cyber-grooming process, as expressed by both the offender and victim. This dissertation maintains that until we gain an empirical understanding of how cyber-specific behavioral characteristics are being used by the offender and victim in the cyber-grooming process, we cannot offer a detailed explanation of online child sexual abuse. For this purpose, this research conceptualizes cyber affordances as cyber-specific variables to be measured within chat-interactive cybercriminal incidents. The conceptual model is applied to empirical data of real-life cases of cyber grooming of children. The study unveils the most critical incidents occurring in the chats, the offender’s and victim’s dynamic fluctuation in the cyber-grooming process, and the use of cyber affordances in relation to the cyber-grooming process. The study provides directions for future research and practical implications for preventing cyber grooming and cybercrime. Keywords: cyber grooming; cyber affordances; content analysis: cybercrime; prevention