14 research outputs found
Gateway to offending behaviour: permission-giving thoughts of online users of child sexual exploitation material.
The endorsement of permission-giving thoughts, or so-called cognitive
distortions, has been discussed as a contributing factor in sexually
abusive behaviour. The current study set out to explore the thinking
patterns of offenders who have used/downloaded child sexual
exploitation material (CSEM), based on a survey of professionals. A
thematic analysis elicited four overarching themes, namely the Perceived
Nature of Children (perception of children portrayed in CSEM, as well as
children in general), Non-sexual Engagement with CSEM (motivating
factors that are not inherently sexual in nature), Denial of Harm
(perception of the level of harm caused by CSEM), and Expression of a
General Sexual Preference (general interest in deviant sexual behaviour).
These themes aid to explore the differences and similarities between
contact and non-contact offenders and to improve the understanding of
the role of permission-giving thoughts in this offending.
Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical significance and future
implications
The endorsement of cognitive distortions: comparing child pornography offenders and contact sex offenders
This study examined the endorsement of cognitive distortions in child pornography
offenders (CPOs), using an established assessment tool, the Abel and Becker
Cognition Scale. The scale was expanded to include cognitions specific to child
pornography offending, extracted from Howitt and Sheldon’s Children and Sexual
Activities Inventory (C&SA). Three samples of CPOs, child sex offenders and
offenders with both offence types responded to the cognition items. An exploratory
Principal Component Analysis suggested six main components of the scale. CPOs
were significantly less likely to endorse these statements in general, and this was more
pronounced on items that project blame onto the child or other people, describe a need
for power and consider children as sexually active. The statements extracted from
C&SA did not differentiate between the groups. These findings are discussed under
consideration of the relationship between cognitive distortions and contact sex
offending, and in reference to the general criticism concerning the definition and
appropriate measurement of cognitive distortion
Serotonin deficiency induced after brain maturation rescues consequences of early life adversity
Brain serotonin (5-HT) system dysfunction is implicated in depressive disorders and acute depletion of 5-HT precursor tryptophan has frequently been used to model the influence of 5-HT deficiency on emotion regulation. Tamoxifen (TAM)-induced Cre/loxP-mediated inactivation of the tryptophan hydroxylase-2 gene (Tph2) was used to investigate the effects of provoked 5-HT deficiency in adult mice (Tph2 icKO) previously subjected to maternal separation (MS). The efficiency of Tph2 inactivation was validated by immunohistochemistry and HPLC. The impact of Tph2 icKO in interaction with MS stress (Tph2 icKOxMS) on physiological parameters, emotional behavior and expression of 5-HT system-related marker genes were assessed. Tph2 icKO mice displayed a significant reduction in 5-HT immunoreactive cells and 5-HT concentrations in the rostral raphe region within four weeks following TAM treatment. Tph2 icKO and MS differentially affected food and water intake, locomotor activity as well as panic-like escape behavior. Tph2 icKO prevented the adverse effects of MS stress and altered the expression of the genes previously linked to stress and emotionality. In conclusion, an experimental model was established to study the behavioral and neurobiological consequences of 5-HT deficiency in adulthood in interaction with early-life adversity potentially affecting brain development and the pathogenesis of depressive disorders
Looking Beyond the Screen: A Critical Review of the Literature on the Online Child Pornography Offender
The emotional representation of sexual crime in the national British press
The relationships between the media, public attitudes, and crime are complex, with evidence suggesting that public interaction with these press reports influencing wider social and political attitudes. Here, 543 articles from 8 of the 10 most-read British national newspapers were examined in terms of their representativeness of crime rates, and their linguistic properties. Results include a 9:1 representation of sexual crime, a 2.5:1 representation of violent crime, and a 1:4 representation of acquisitive crime within press articles compared with official statistics. Rating the linguistic content indicates that sexual crime articles comprised angrier and more emotionally negative tones than stories on all other groups. Tabloid and broadsheet differences were found in headlines, but not in the main bodies of the articles. Cognitive–experiential self-theory is offered as just one social psychological framework for understanding the role of emotion in sexual crime reporting