Author: Juliet Grayson

A debate funded by the Leverhulme trus tand run by the Internet Watch Foundation regarding  the increasing importance of cyberspace in sexual offending, in particular in relation to online child sexual abuse and online child sexual exploitation.

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 46(5): 693–708.

Abstract: People have fundamental tendencies to punish immoral actors and treat close others altruistically. What happens when these tendencies collide—do people punish or protect close others who behave immorally? Across 10 studies (N = 2,847), we show that people consistently anticipate protecting close others who commit moral infractions, particularly highly severe acts of theft and sexual harassment. This tendency emerged regardless of gender, political orientation, moral foundations, and disgust sensitivity and was driven by concerns about self-interest, loyalty, and harm. We further find that people justify this tendency by planning to discipline close others on their own. We also identify a psychological mechanism that mitigates the tendency to protect close others who have committed severe (but not mild) moral infractions: self-distancing. These findings highlight the role that relational closeness plays in shaping people’s responses to moral violations, underscoring the need to consider relational closeness in future moral psychology work.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0146167219873485?casa_token=nSUIw4HXp9QAAAAA:KVsWKUwzwwZZbu0FC-JDCC-0BC8I0Qu_4-LqH1YP0Iqht_LznArUftjm_qj5Kjc4BLhsD5XBLOk7AA

Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon.

This book draws together a wealth of material from many different areas to form a picture of what adult sexual attraction to children means within the context of our culture and our understandings of sexuality. Information widely available in libraries or on the Internet account is covered along with online offending. The majority of the text however, is about the findings from the author’s original research between 2006 and 2008 which explores the everyday experiences and views of ‘minor-attracted adults’ (MAAs) themselves. This includes fantasies and what respondents found most attractive, with the distinction between fantasy and reality appearing to be recognised by most. Interactions with others within and outside the online paedophile community are examined. The provision and form of support is reported and findings suggest that those who have no support outside the paedophile community are more likely to agree with sexual contact with children, while those who have support available from non-paedophiles are more likely to hold ‘non-contact’ views. That support may not be with approval but with acceptance.

Issues which stop adults preventing child abuse and initiatives in addressing adult sexual attraction to children e.g Stop It Now are covered. Finally, keeping children safe with guidance is given.

“The whole intention of this book has been to enable us, as a society, to understand that adult sexual attraction to children does exist and that the best way to address it is through awareness, empathy and clear boundaries, by accepting that the way to protect children is to allow us all to talk openly about our feelings, no matter what they are, while holding ourselves responsible for our actions, no matter what they are”.

https://www.ipce.info/sites/ipce.info/files/biblio_attachments/goode_2.pdf

Oxford University Press. 2019.

This book examines current and past perspectives concerning unconventional sexual interests. Extensively referenced, it challenges the dogma that sexual interests are immutably determined during a single critical period and are thereafter unchangeable. It is written for mental health clinicians and specialists in the fields of sexology, forensic psychology, and psychiatry, but is also of interest to anyone whose lives have been affected by a paraphilia.

Chapter in: The Routledge International Handbook of Sexual Addiction.

ABSTRACT

The information gathered from both American and British projects on the prevalence rates of clergy sexual misconduct suggests the clergy have substantially higher rates of sexual misconduct than other caring professionals. This chapter takes the view that religious vocation, no matter the religious tradition, is often about the use of religion and religious practice to manage endemic shame caused by narcissistic damage. Sexual behaviour can also be a way of escaping from this endemic shame. It is the author’s view that the clergy have these higher rates of misconduct because religious behaviour and sexual behaviour are both solutions to the pain of narcissistic damage.

www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/compulsive-sexual-behaviour-religious-practice-thaddeus-birchard/e/10.4324/9781315639512-34

The results of a survey taken in February 2018 about viewing pornography, frequency of viewing and effects on sexual aspects of their lives.

https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/document/2zlehezpae/InternalResults_Feb18_sexvsporn.pdf

Details of papers presented can be found on the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) website: https://www.atsa.com/select-atsa-conference-handouts

The Australia and New Zealand association (ANZATSA) has further detail of the 2019 conference presentations at:  https://www.griffith.edu.au/criminology-institute/news-events/2019-anzatsa-conference

Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34 (20), 4303-4327. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519869235

Abstract

This study examined the role of the reaction of the victim, the nature of the physical setting, and the proximity of third parties in deterring offenders from completing an act of child sexual abuse (CSA). A self-report study was conducted with 238 adult males serving a custodial sentence for CSA, of whom 82 identified an occasion in which they had tried to have sexual contact with a child but did not because they were stopped or discouraged. We examined the situational characteristics of the noncompleted offense and compared these with the most recent completed offense by the same offenders. The most common reason for stopping the noncompleted offense, given by more than half of the participants, was the negative reaction of the child, and in particular, the direct request by the child to stop. Actual or potential actions by third parties were the next most cited reasons, with around a quarter of cases stopped because the offender was interrupted. In comparison to the noncomplete offense, in the completed offense the child was more likely to be younger and to be perceived as a willing participant. The most common suggestion for what might have stopped the completed offense, endorsed almost universally, was a negative reaction from the child. Factors that increased the chance of being detected—someone being nearby and the possibility of being observed—were also strongly endorsed. We argue that the findings provide the basis for devising offense-focused prevention strategies for CSA.

N.B Figures appear at the end of the accepted version given here.