Dark side of information systems and protection of children online: examining predatory behavior and victimization of children within social media

Protecting children online from sexual predators has been a focus of research in psychiatry, sociology, computer science, and information systems (IS) for many years. However, the anonymity afforded by social media has made finding a solution to the problem of child protection difficult. Pedophiles manipulate conversation (discourse) with children in social media in order to exercise power, control and coercion over children leading to their psychological and often physical victimization. Recent IS research points to "individuals, groups, and organizations that have been transformed - in intended and unintended ways - by technology" (Dang and Brown 2010, p. 2). This research examines a darker side of social media that demonstrates unintended consequences that are negatively transforming and affecting lives of children who fall victim to predatory coercion. There is a critical need for information systems research to investigate and understand how sexual predators victimize children online. The knowledge gained could help society as a whole to develop interventions to better protect children online, enabling them to use valuable online resources for education, social development and becoming better citizens in the future. In this context, this dissertation contributes to the larger research narrative of information systems and critical social issues. This dissertation comprises three studies. Study 1 addresses how online sexual predators use social media, as a discursive system, to propagate their ideology of acceptance of sexual acts between adults and children. Study 2 addresses how online sexual predators use and manipulate the text of institutional logics within negotiated cyber-social realities to victimize children. Study 3 examines how online sexual predators use text to construct and control negotiated cyber-social realities during the online victimization of children. Across these three studies we examined how online sexual predators used computer-mediated communications to coerce and victimize children within social media. This research introduces: (1) critical discourse analysis in information systems research to critically examine the role of social media in society, (2) an example of a mixed methods research combining critical discourse analysis, structured content analysis and grounded theory approach for the development of theory in social media and, (3) the use of institutional logics to examine social media phenomena. The central contribution of this dissertation is the development of theoretical models that uncover ways in which power relations and effects of pedophilic ideology are manifested in language and discourse between pedophiles and children in social media. The resulting theoretical models of: (1) pedophilic ideology manifestation, coercion and victimization of children in social media, (2) cyber-victimization logic and, (3) negotiated cyber-social realities provide the foundation for further research, social intervention and policy formulation that lead to better protection of children in social media. Additionally, we present a matrix of predatory coercion and victimization of children within social media that aggregates the results of all three studies. This dissertation aims to contribute beyond the traditional focus of IS research on business and organizations, leveraging the wealth of knowledge from IS research to positively impact societal causes that affect the lives of millions of our fellow citizens - in this particular research - millions of children that are the most vulnerable population in our society. These contributions aim to empower the powerless and expose power abuse as expressed in coercion of children leading to their victimization

SOCIAL MEDIA THEORIES IN CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS (CDA)

Social Media can be conceptualized as an emerging frontier where new forms of social relations expand at the junction of human collective communicative and technology of information. Discussion about CDA place in critical information systems (IS) research, With an example of a CDA study, applied to social media this discussion service to inform IS researchers of a decent option for theory building in social media

Sending a Dear John Letter: Public Information Campaigns and the Movement to “End Demand” for Prostitution in Atlanta, GA

This paper examines “Dear John”, a public information campaign that ran from 2006–2008 in Atlanta, GA, to ask what narrative it conveys about commercial sex and those who engage in it, in order to understand the gendered (and other) discursive constructions it produces, reflects, and complicates about these activities and subjects. Drawing from both policy and sex work/trafficking scholarship, this paper argues that Dear John used symbolic images and direct and consequential text to convey a “male demand” narrative, which holds that men’s demand for sexual services harms girls and young women and will not be tolerated. Yet, in so doing, Dear John also reinforced particularly gendered characterizations of individuals who trade sex, while de-emphasizing other factors that increase young peoples’ vulnerabilities to and within sex work. The paper concludes by discussing Dear John’s outcomes and significance for scholars concerned with sex work, policy, and social change

Contesting the Dominant Discourse of Child Sexual Abuse: Sexual Subjects, Agency, and Ethics

Responding to previous scholars’ call to explore the complexities of child sexual abuse (CSA), this article presents narratives of CSA and scrutinizes a binary construction underpinning this discourse of CSA, namely, the positioning of children as powerless and adults as powerful. The narratives belong to three Indonesian young people who have had sexual interactions with adults when they were children. The findings demonstrate how this binary positioning has been both drawn upon and resisted in the ways participants understand their sexual experiences. This article contributes to the existing literature by providing analyses of some vignettes of everyday experiences of how children might be constituted as sexual subjects, including their capability to exercise agency, perform resistance, and negotiate ethics. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to how the recognition of children as sexual subjects and their sexual agency might be beneficial for parents, educators, and counselors

Pimps of Harlem: Talk of Labor and the Sociology of Risk

This dissertation examines how third-party labor is socially constructed by pimps or third parties. Pimps and their labor are investigated using sociological paradigms of risk. Risk is defined as exposure to danger (Beck, 1992; Giddens, 1991) and can produce negative or positive feelings and outcomes (Lupton, 1999). I explore how third-party labor is connected to risk with the following research questions: 1) How does the U.S. media portray third parties as risky, and how does this influence proposed remedies to this social problem? 2) How do third parties\u27 at-risk status impact their role in illicit and licit economies? 3) How do third parties\u27 social networks influence their business practices, and how do these nexuses impact the riskiness of the work? and 4) How do third parties perceive their voluntary, work-related risk-taking as positive? I chose this population of lower-echelon pimps because they are present in the public imagination in two ways. First, since the 1970s the ghetto pimp has been depicted through Blaxploitation films such as SuperFly and The Mack and by the news media as flashy, dangerous predators within ghetto landscapes. Second, since the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) (2000), many pimps legally qualify as sex traffickers. This legal conflation, combined with the policy agenda of abolitionists and anti-traffickers, shapes a cultural image of pimps as a new, global danger. Because these lower-echelon pimps have been written and are being re-written into the history of the sex trade, their overlooked stories are more important than ever. The findings show that the U.S. news media portrays third parties as predatory, omnipresent, and organized. This is likely to reflect the kind of risk knowledge, or public idea about who is at-risk and who is risky (Douglas, 1985), in commercial sex markets. Overall, pimps are branded as quite dangerous -- not only in ghetto landscapes, but also on Main Street. The proposed remedies to this social problem are generally punitive solutions, which do not address the roots of this problem, such as poverty. The social context of this sample of pimps is akin to Loic Wacquant\u27s description of advanced marginalization, where due to poverty and being relegated to ghettos, this group experiences extreme deprivation at the margins. Third parties\u27 social constructivist accounts of their labor shows how they view their at-risk status in relation to social and economic boundaries. Younger third parties (18 to 23 years old) move more seamlessly across licit and illicit boundaries in line with David Matza\u27s (1964) theory of drift, whereas older pimps are more confined to illicit spheres and speak from subcultural positions. This is further reflected in how their accounts differ: while older pimps tend to use at-risk discourse to explain their motivation to pimp, younger pimps have a bicultural discourse in which they use not only at-risk discourse, but also discourse about mastering both worlds. In terms of the dangers of their work in illicit sectors, pimps\u27 existing social networks play a role in how they perform this labor. This is especially true of younger pimps, who tend to work with friends or family. More insular work networks make this work less risky. Compared to older pimps, younger third parties tend to use less violence with sex workers and clients, and they are not as controlling about their businesses. In contrast, older pimps more commonly work outdoors and with stranger clients, so they have to embody violence and control. They do, however, have more close-knit social relationships with sex workers. Working with stranger clients and having pseudo-family work networks may play a role in older pimps\u27 more lucrative economic returns, but some of these differences may be attributed to differences in age, such as maturity, youth\u27s reliance on technology for communication, and their insular social networks based on homophily (sameness). Pimping involves voluntary risk-taking that can produce positive feelings and outcomes. In line with Stephen Lyng\u27s idea of edgework, pimps engage in risk and its successful navigation, which results in feelings of control through mastering danger or escaping from social controls. Older pimps more often successfully run dangerous businesses, whereas younger third parties more often suspend social controls through carnivalesque or worlds turned upside down (derived from Bakhtin, 1984) parties. Because of their at-risk status and gender, race, and class positions, third parties approach risk differently than more traditional edgeworkers. Some marginalized males flirt with the edge from a subcultural position. Yet edgework can facilitate a form of hegemonic masculinity, but with simultaneous resistance to raced and classed positions. This connects to hustler embodiment, where slickness and abilities with money and girls are exaggerated. This brand of hypermasculinity may be the result of being at the margins and wanting to outperform those at the center. Unlike traditional edgework, which results in feelings of authenticity, pimps\u27 outperformance is a way of resisting mainstream culture. This dissertation is one of the first empirical studies of third parties to explore how they not only perceive the dangers of their work, but also how they interpret the meaning of their work from marginalized socio-structural positions and risk orientations

A study of sexual violence in the digital age: Working with technology-facilitated sexual violence against women within sexual violence support services

The progressively interactive capabilities of new technologies are combining to change the landscape of personal, social and professional lives. Research is growing on the use of technologies to sexually exploit, harass and abuse individuals, with the majority of studies focusing on the experiences of young people. Less is known about the experiences of adult women and the subsequent impact of these events. Addressing this gap in the research is therefore important in responding to and supporting women’s experiences of sexual violence facilitated by the use of technology. The study is from a social constructionist perspective and utilised a qualitative methodological approach in the form of narrative inquiry and thematic analysis to analyse the data and is based upon interviews with five participants who work within sexual violence support services. It explored how participants construct meaning in relation to technology-facilitated sexual violence against women, how they respond to it and how it subsequently impacts victims. The data was then examined using thematic analysis, which identified four primary themes. The findings demonstrate that understanding technology-facilitated sexual violence is a complex process encompassing the context, frequency and type of sexual violence experienced; it involves the sexualisation of women online and understanding online predatory behaviour. Participants report a negative personal and professional impact on victims, ranging from feelings of shame and fear of exposure to being prevented from pursuing professional goals. Service provision is viewed as inconsistent and problematic. This study considers the findings in the context of theories of shame, the embodiment of harm online and the construction of identity in relation to technology. It also considers the changing landscape of sexual violence against women in relation to technology within the wider context of violence against women

Sexual violence: Raising the conversations, a literature review

This literature review is intended to contribute to efforts to raise awareness and conversations around sexual violence. It is focused on men’s sexual violence against adolescent and adult women. We begin our review by briefly considering the definition of sexual violence, its prevalence, and its impact. In Section 2, following the lead of public health theorists, we use an ecological framework to discuss factors which contribute to – or are protective of – sexual violence. That is, we adopt a multi‐level approach, considering risk factors at societal, community, relationship and individual levels. Although we look at each of these levels in turn, as will become evident, it is also important to consider the interactions between levels. In Section 3, we review evaluations of various attempts to prevent sexual violence. Mostly, these evaluations have focused on individual level prevention efforts: prevention at community and societal levels seem to have received little attention from evaluators. Nevertheless, there are some useful lessons to be gained from the evaluation literature. In section 4, we attempt to integrate the material considered in sections 2 and 3 into a framework proposed by the (US) National Sexual Violence Resource Center (Davis, Parks, & Cohen, 2006). Consistent with a public health approach, the Spectrum of Prevention is a multi‐level model

Child Sex Tourism Recruitment Techniques

 The tourism industry generates billions of dollars. However, it has negative impacts on communities. The rationale for this systematic literature review is to examine the techniques perpetrators use to recruit children into the child sex tourism, share knowledge to spark and inspire processes that will usher rapid growth from all directions in the fight against the menace. A systematic review of the literatures using different sources was actuated. Google Search Engine and Scholar Search Engine were used to search articles. In summary, the techniques used to recruit children into child sex tourism are numerous can be simply pooled and catalogued into debt bonded technique, emotional abuse technique, physical support technique, counterfeit love technique, drug addiction technique, physical abuse technique, gifts and favors technique, power and authority technique; and fake promises and special attention grooming technique.

Revealing the power practices and ideology of pedophiles in pedophile community through transitivity choices

Among the choices of grammatical forms, the transitive system stands out in the pedophile community. The purpose of this study is to reveal the exercise of power and ideology of pedophiles through their transitive choices. In systemic functional linguistics (SFL), the transitivity system is widely used to analyze isolated clauses and contextual clauses. The data for this research was taken from conversational texts by pedophiles at WordPress Jakongsu from December 2021 to February 2022.  Data were collected through netnography approach (Kozinets, 2010), which applies ethnography collection technique in the virtual world. The existed data were compiled in a digital archive. To analyze the data, Fairclough's critical discourse analysis (CDA) model was used (i.e., description, interpretation, and explanation). The findings of the study indicate that pedophiles tend to use clauses of the material process than those of mental and relational processes.Mengungkap praktik kuasa dan ideologi pelaku kejahatan dalam komunitas pedofilia melalui pilihan ketransitifanDi antara pilihan terhadap bentuk-bentuk gramatikal, pilihan sistem ketransitifan begitu menonjol dalam komunitas pedofilia. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk mengungkap praktik kuasa dan ideologi pelaku kejahatan dalam komunitas pedofilia melalui pilihan ketransitifan. Dalam linguistik sistemik fungsional (LSF), sistem transitivitas adalah sarana yang umum digunakan untuk menganalisis klausa yang terisolasi maupun klausa dalam konteks. Data penelitian ini diambil dari satu komunitas pedofilia di Wordpress Jakongsu selama Desember 2021 hingga Februari 2022. Prosedur pengumpulan data dalam penelitian ini berupa netnografi yang mengacu kepada pendapat Kozinets (2010), yang merupakan bentuk adopsi dari teknik pengumpulan etnografi pada ranah dunia maya. Data yang sudah ada dikumpulkan dalam pengarsipan digital. Untuk menganalisis data peneliti menggunakan model analisis wacana kritis dari Fairclough, yakni deskripsi, interpretasi, dan eksplanasi. Temuan dari penelitian ini menjelaskan bahwa dalam pedofilia memiliki kecenderuan untuk menggunakan klausa yang berjenis proses material dibandingkan klausa yang berjenis proses mental dan proses relasional