Sexual Crime and the Internet

Craig A. Harper, Rebecca Lievesley, Helen Swaby, Belinda Winder, Nicholas Blagden, Kerensa Hocken, Phil Banyard

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN:
  9783031958434
• eBook ISBN:
  9783031958441
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Applied Psychology
• Index: Psychology

This book offers a collection of original contributions to the current literature on the role of the internet in understanding contemporary issues in sexual offending. The book explores the theoretical underpinnings of the effect of the internet on the development of sexual deviance, before looking at more applied topics including online sexual offending against children and sextortion. Contemporary topics such as image-based sexual abuse, dating app-facilitated violence, and groups referred to as ‘incels’ are also explored. The book is relevant to psychologists, criminologists, social workers and students, as well as practitioners and the general public.

Table of contents

• Sexual Crime
• Sexual Crime and the Internet
• Preface
• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Editors and Contributors
• 1. The Internet and Sexual Arousal: Development, Maintenance, and Escalation of Sexual Offending
• 2. Child Sexual Exploitation Material: Motivations for Use and Implications for Deterrence, Treatment, and Prevention
• 3. Blackmail and Sextortion
• 4. Image-Based Sexual Abuse
• 5. When Swiping Goes Wrong: Dating Applications, Interpersonal Aggression, and Sexual Violence
• 6. Incels (Involuntary Celibates): Diagnosing the Effects of the Black Pill
• Glossary
• Index