Grooming Cybervictims

Berson, Ilene R.

doi:10.1300/j202v02n01_02

Cited by 72 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The majority of research about online sexual solicitation has focused on adult-to-child solicitation and predation [9,11,36]. Although this is clearly an important health topic, this should not overshadow the fact that adolescent peers are soliciting each other.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While not all people who enjoy this anonymity have ill intent, there are those who take advantage of the inscrutability to prey on susceptible young people. Berson [11] notes that, although intimate and positive relationships are formed online by young people, the culture of "deception" in cyberspace conversations is a reason for concern with respect to vulnerable adolescent females. These results justify further examination of online sexual solicitation of youths, preferably with a randomly selected group of young people to allow the report of prevalence rates and comparisons of related characteristics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Sex Differences in Youth-Reported Depressive Symptomatology and Unwanted Internet Sexual Solicitation

Ybarra¹,

Leaf²,

Diener‐West³

2004

J Med Internet Res

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BackgroundAs the number of youths using the Internet regularly increase, so too does the number of youths potentially vulnerable to negative experiences online. Clinicians, policy makers, and parents need to better understand the Internet and factors related to positive and negative experiences online.ObjectivePrimarily to investigate the association between youth-reported depressive symptomatology and unwanted Internet sexual solicitation and secondarily to identify sex differences in related characteristics of affected youth.MethodsData from the Youth Internet Safety Survey were analyzed to investigate the association between reported depressive symptomatology and unwanted Internet sexual solicitation. The Youth Internet Safety Survey was a nationally-representative, cross-sectional telephone survey. Youth participants (N = 1501) were English speakers between the ages of 10 and 17 years who had accessed the Internet at least 6 times in the previous 6 months and had resided in the household for at least 2 weeks in the previous year. Eighty-two percent of contacted households agreed to participate.Each participant was asked to indicate whether any of the 9 symptoms of major depression defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) had been present within the previous month. Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of reporting an unwanted sexual solicitation online for youths with mild or major depressive symptomatology versus no symptomatology. A parsimonious, multivariate model of significant youth characteristics was identified separately for males and females.ResultsYouths who report major depressive-like symptoms were 3.5 times more likely (odds ratio, 3.54; 95% confidence interval, 2.19-5.71) to also report an unwanted sexual solicitation online compared to youths with mild/no symptomatology. After adjusting for significant Internet and psychosocial characteristics, male Internet users who report major depressive-like symptomatology were 2.5 times more likely to also indicate an unwanted Internet solicitation (adjusted odds ratio, 2.72; 95% CI, 1.15-6.40); significant differences were not observed among otherwise-similar females. Further, among youths reporting an Internet solicitation (N = 283), youths with major depressive-like symptomatology were twice as likely to report feeling emotionally distressed by the incident compared to youths with mild/no symptomatology (odds ratio, 2.27; 95% CI, 1.03-5.02).ConclusionsWhile the majority of youths report positive experiences online, some youths may be more vulnerable to negative experiences. Cross-sectional results indicate that the report of depressive symptomatology is significantly related to the concurrent report of an unwanted Internet sexual solicitation, especially for young males. Future research should focus on parsing out the temporality of events and identifying additional populations of vulnerable youths online.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex Differences in Youth-Reported Depressive Symptomatology and Unwanted Internet Sexual Solicitation

Ybarra¹,

Leaf²,

Diener‐West³

2004

J Med Internet Res

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“…Recent research suggests that offline vulnerabilities at any ecological level (e.g., problems within the family, social isolation, previous victimization) often extend to online risk (Berson, 2003;European Online Grooming Project, 2012;Livingstone, Haddon, Görzig, & Olafsson, 2011;Noll, Shenk, Barnes, & Putnam, 2009;Wells & Mitchell, 2008;Whittle et al, 2013a). However, it must also be recognized that some young people who would not be considered vulnerable offline, are in fact vulnerable online (UK Council for Child Internet Safety [UKCCIS], 2012; Whittle et al, 2013a).…”

Section: Review Of the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

In Their Own Words: Young Peoples’ Vulnerabilities to Being Groomed and Sexually Abused Online

Whittle¹,

Hamilton‐Giachritsis²,

Beech³

2014

PSYCH

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Little is known about why some children and young people are vulnerable to being groomed online, yet this has important implications for policy, practice and prevention. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify factors contributing to a young person's vulnerability towards online grooming. Thematic Analysis was conducted on eight interviews with young people (six females and two males) who had experienced online grooming, resulting in sexual abuse online and/or offline. The reasons why participants engaged with the offenders varied on most levels of the Bron-fenbrenner (1979) ecological model (including individual, family, community and society). The loss of family protection was found to be central in contributing to vulnerability, as is online risk taking behavior. Three victim vulnerability scenarios emerged: 1) multiple long-term risk factors, 2) trigger events and 3) online behavioral risks. In each of these scenarios, parental and family factors were very important. It is suggested that further research is needed to investigate the applicability of these scenarios to other samples. Recommendations include parent and carer communication and involvement with their children's internet use, as well as consistent, early onset internet safety education.

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“…The psychological effects on victims can manifest in different ways, and it can take many years for individuals to come to terms with. In an account described by Berson (2003), the victim had suffered 5 months of sexual abuse, and the psychological implications caused the victim to require psychiatric hospitalization following suicide attempts. Clinical observations of child sexual abuse victims have shown depression, low self-esteem, and sexual dysfunction (Finkelhor & Browne, 1985).…”

Section: Psychological Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Young Adult Perceptions of Internet Communications and the Grooming Concept

Wood

Wheatcroft

2020

Sage Open

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Research of young people shows a lack of understanding of the term grooming in online communications and that internet risks are taken because internet literacy is poor for this group. However, limited research has investigated the perceptions of young adults in this context. The aim of this study was to understand young adults’ perceptions of risk, their internet behaviors, and understanding of the grooming concept. Furthermore, to understand the types of risk behaviors young people engage in online, whether they perceive these behaviors as risky, and what implications this has for vulnerability to negative experiences. An examination of internet communication perceptions and the grooming concept focused on 10 young males and females aged between 18 and 23 years. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at open access youth organizations in the North West of England, UK, and the duration of each interview was approximately 30 min. The data were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. Emergent themes were (a) grooming as a concept, (b) virtual lives, and (c) perception of risk. The findings concur there is limited understanding of the term grooming but that explanations may not be simply confined to literacy. Risks being taken online were not always perceived as risky. Recommendations include the need for a more nuanced definition of the term grooming and that more information is available to children and caregivers. Further work should focus on younger participants’ perceptions of grooming to address wider issues, together with a focus on risk taking behaviors among other vulnerable groups.

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Grooming Cybervictims

Cited by 72 publications

References 4 publications

Sex Differences in Youth-Reported Depressive Symptomatology and Unwanted Internet Sexual Solicitation

Sex Differences in Youth-Reported Depressive Symptomatology and Unwanted Internet Sexual Solicitation

In Their Own Words: Young Peoples’ Vulnerabilities to Being Groomed and Sexually Abused Online

Young Adult Perceptions of Internet Communications and the Grooming Concept

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