Woodhams Jessica, Kloess Juliane A, Jose Brendan, Hamilton-Giachritsis Catherine E
Centre for Applied Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
WMG, The University of Warwick, Warwick, United Kingdom.
Front Psychol. 2021 Apr 9;12:623668. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.623668. eCollection 2021.
International law enforcement have noted a rise in the use of the Dark Web to facilitate and commit sexual offenses against children, both prior to and since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study presented here therefore aimed to investigate the characteristics and behaviors of anonymous users of Dark Web platforms who were suspected of engaging in the sexual abuse of children. Naturally-occurring data on 53 anonymous suspects, who were active on the Dark Web and had come to police attention in the United Kingdom (UK), were sampled. Analysis of the data yielded 462 features that could be coded reliably. Analysis of these features provided novel insights into suspects' characteristics, their motivations for using the Dark Web, the nature of the offending behavior they reported engaging in, their technical and security precautions, sexual interests, and the content of their interactions with one another. Findings are discussed in relation to theoretical and practical implications, as well as directions for future research.
国际执法部门注意到，在新冠疫情爆发之前以及爆发之后，利用暗网便利实施针对儿童的性犯罪行为呈上升趋势。因此，本文所呈现的研究旨在调查涉嫌对儿童实施性虐待的暗网平台匿名用户的特征和行为。我们抽取了53名在暗网活跃且在英国引起警方注意的匿名嫌疑人的自然产生的数据。对这些数据的分析产生了462个可以可靠编码的特征。对这些特征的分析为嫌疑人的特征、他们使用暗网的动机、他们所报告的犯罪行为的性质、他们的技术和安全防范措施、性兴趣以及他们彼此之间互动的内容提供了新的见解。本文将结合理论和实际意义以及未来研究方向对研究结果进行讨论。
