The consumption of Internet child pornography and violent and sex offending

Background: There is an ongoing debate on whether consumers of child pornography pose a risk for hands-on sex offenses. Up until now, there have been very few studies which have analyzed the association between the consumption of child pornography and the subsequent perpetration of hands-on sex offenses. The aim of this study was to examine the recidivism rates for hands-on and hands-off sex offenses in a sample of child pornography users using a 6 year follow-up design.

Methods: The current study population consisted of 231 men, who were subsequently charged with consumption of illegal pornographic material after being detected by a special operation against Internet child pornography, conducted by the Swiss police in 2002. Criminal history, as well as recidivism, was assessed using the criminal records from 2008.

Results: 4.8% (n = 11) of the study sample had a prior conviction for a sexual and/or violent offense, 1% (n = 2) for a hands-on sex offense, involving child sexual abuse, 3.3% (n = 8) for a handsoff sex offense and one for a nonsexual violent offense. When applying a broad definition of recidivism, which included ongoing investigations, charges and convictions, 3% (n = 7) of the study sample recidivated with a violent and/or sex offense, 3.9% (n = 9) with a hands-off sex offense and 0.8% (n = 2) with a hands-on sex offense.

Conclusion: Consuming child pornography alone is not a risk factor for committing hands-on sex offenses at least not for those subjects who had never committed a hands-on sex offense. The majority of the investigated consumers had no previous convictions for hands-on sex offenses. For those offenders, the prognosis for hands-on sex offenses, as well as for recidivism with child pornography, is favorable.

Fachgebiet (DDC)

150 Psychologie

Schlagwörter

Gewalt,Kinderpornographie,Internet,consumption,child pornography,violence,internet

Zitieren

ISO 690

ENDRASS, Jérôme, Frank URBANIOK, Lea C. HAMMERMEISTER, Christian BENZ, Thomas ELBERT, Arja LAUBACHER, Astrid ROSSEGGER, 2009. The consumption of Internet child pornography and violent and sex offending. In: BMC Psychiatry. 9(43). Available under: doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-9-43

BibTex

@article{Endrass2009consu-10424,
  year={2009},
  doi={10.1186/1471-244X-9-43},
  title={The consumption of Internet child pornography and violent and sex offending},
  number={43},
  volume={9},
  journal={BMC Psychiatry},
  author={Endrass, Jérôme and Urbaniok, Frank and Hammermeister, Lea C. and Benz, Christian and Elbert, Thomas and Laubacher, Arja and Rossegger, Astrid}
}

RDF

<rdf:RDF
    xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"
    xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
    xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
    xmlns:bibo="http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/"
    xmlns:dspace="http://digital-repositories.org/ontologies/dspace/0.1.0#"
    xmlns:foaf="http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/"
    xmlns:void="http://rdfs.org/ns/void#"
    xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#" > 
  <rdf:Description rdf:about="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/10424">
    <dc:creator>Benz, Christian</dc:creator>
    <dcterms:hasPart rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/bitstream/123456789/10424/1/Endrass_etal_InternetPronogr.pdf"/>
    <dc:contributor>Benz, Christian</dc:contributor>
    <dcterms:available rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime">2011-03-25T09:17:28Z</dcterms:available>
    <dc:contributor>Laubacher, Arja</dc:contributor>
    <dcterms:issued>2009</dcterms:issued>
    <void:sparqlEndpoint rdf:resource="http://localhost/fuseki/dspace/sparql"/>
    <dc:contributor>Hammermeister, Lea C.</dc:contributor>
    <dc:date rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime">2011-03-25T09:17:28Z</dc:date>
    <dcterms:isPartOf rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/43"/>
    <dc:contributor>Endrass, Jérôme</dc:contributor>
    <dc:contributor>Urbaniok, Frank</dc:contributor>
    <dcterms:rights rdf:resource="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/"/>
    <foaf:homepage rdf:resource="http://localhost:8080/"/>
    <bibo:uri rdf:resource="http://kops.uni-konstanz.de/handle/123456789/10424"/>
    <dc:format>application/pdf</dc:format>
    <dc:creator>Hammermeister, Lea C.</dc:creator>
    <dc:creator>Urbaniok, Frank</dc:creator>
    <dcterms:bibliographicCitation>First publ. in: BMC Psychiatry 2009, 9:43</dcterms:bibliographicCitation>
    <dc:creator>Rossegger, Astrid</dc:creator>
    <dspace:hasBitstream rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/bitstream/123456789/10424/1/Endrass_etal_InternetPronogr.pdf"/>
    <dc:contributor>Elbert, Thomas</dc:contributor>
    <dc:creator>Elbert, Thomas</dc:creator>
    <dspace:isPartOfCollection rdf:resource="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/server/rdf/resource/123456789/43"/>
    <dc:language>eng</dc:language>
    <dc:creator>Endrass, Jérôme</dc:creator>
    <dcterms:abstract xml:lang="eng">Background: There is an ongoing debate on whether consumers of child pornography pose a risk for hands-on sex offenses. Up until now, there have been very few studies which have analyzed the association between the consumption of child pornography and the subsequent perpetration of hands-on sex offenses. The aim of this study was to examine the recidivism rates for hands-on and hands-off sex offenses in a sample of child pornography users using a 6 year follow-up design.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Methods: The current study population consisted of 231 men, who were subsequently charged with consumption of illegal pornographic material after being detected by a special operation against Internet child pornography, conducted by the Swiss police in 2002. Criminal history, as well as recidivism, was assessed using the criminal records from 2008.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Results: 4.8% (n = 11) of the study sample had a prior conviction for a sexual and/or violent offense, 1% (n = 2) for a hands-on sex offense, involving child sexual abuse, 3.3% (n = 8) for a handsoff sex offense and one for a nonsexual violent offense. When applying a broad definition of recidivism, which included ongoing investigations, charges and convictions, 3% (n = 7) of the study sample recidivated with a violent and/or sex offense, 3.9% (n = 9) with a hands-off sex offense and 0.8% (n = 2) with a hands-on sex offense.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Conclusion: Consuming child pornography alone is not a risk factor for committing hands-on sex offenses   at least not for those subjects who had never committed a hands-on sex offense. The majority of the investigated consumers had no previous convictions for hands-on sex offenses. For those offenders, the prognosis for hands-on sex offenses, as well as for recidivism with child pornography, is favorable.</dcterms:abstract>
    <dc:rights>terms-of-use</dc:rights>
    <dcterms:title>The consumption of Internet child pornography and violent and sex offending</dcterms:title>
    <dc:contributor>Rossegger, Astrid</dc:contributor>
    <dc:creator>Laubacher, Arja</dc:creator>
  </rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>

Universitätsbibliographie

Ja