Self-Reported Online Child Pornography Behavior: A Psychological
Analysis
Kathryn
C. Seigfried
Purdue
University, USA
Richard
W. Lovely
John Jay
College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, USA
Marcus K.
Rogers
Purdue
University, USA
Abstract
Limited research has been conducted on the differences between those
individuals who view, download, or share online child pornography
(CP) from those who do not. Using Bandura’s theory of reciprocal
determinism, the current study tested whether Internet CP-users
differed from non-CP users in their personality characteristics.
307 respondents completed an online survey: 277 were classified as
non-CP users, and 30 were classified as CP users. Statistical
analyses revealed a relationship between higher scores on
exploitive-manipulative amoral dishonesty (EMAD) traits, lower
scores on internal moral choice (IV), and the viewing of child
pornography. Furthermore, the study suggests women are engaging in
Internet CP consumption more often than previously suggested.
Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed and
suggestions for future research are presented.
Keywords:
Bandura’s theory; Child Pornography; Internet consumption; Online
Survey
Introduction
Children
have been treated and viewed as sexual objects and included in erotic
literature and drawings long before the invention of the Internet (Wortley
& Smallbone, 2006). During most of the twentieth century, child
pornography was a restricted activity, and sexualized images of
children were locally manufactured and traded. The producers of child
pornography created traditional hard-copies, which were of poor
quality, difficult to obtain, and rather expensive (Wortley &
Smallbone 2006). However, the innovation of the Internet and the
World Wide Web (WWW) has created a pseudo-anonymous world filled with
an unlimited amount of information, which dramatically changed the
underground world of child pornography. By unexpectedly becoming the
new medium for intent, motive, and ambition, the Internet has become a
vital part of the child pornographer’s criminal tradecraft.
Thanks to the Internet, the amount of child pornography
produced and its availability have increased, along with the
efficiency of its distribution, and its accessibility by child
pornography users (Wortley & Smallbone 2006). In addition, surveys
indicate the consumption of child pornography largely exceeds the
prevalence of child sexual abuse (Frei Erenay Dittmann & Graf, 2005).
Thus, there are more consumers of child pornography than there are
child sexual abusers. Even those child pornography users who do not
physically molest a child, but merely receive and collect the images,
nonetheless, “play a role in the sexual exploitation of children”
(Lanning 2001, p. 86). “[C]hild pornography therefore represents and
preserves that abuse or sexualized image for as long as that
photograph (or video) remains” (Taylor & Quayle 2003, p. 8). In other
words, sexualized images of children become a permanent record of the
abuse that occurred in order to create the pornographic images (Calcetas-Santos
2001).
With the
increase in accessibility via the Internet, research suggests the
child pornography industry generates approximately $3 billion
annually, and there are roughly 100,000 websites offering illegal
child pornography (Ropelato, 2006). Nonetheless, we have no idea as
to the number of people who actually collect or possess child
pornography (Taylor & Quayle, 2003). According to the United States
Department of Justice’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS),
which collects crime statistics including the number of incidents for
child pornography, the proportion of all incidents of pornography
involving sexualized children increased from 15 percent in 1997 to 26
percent in 2000 (Finkelhor & Ormrod 2004).
A
haunting question in the current literature remains unanswered: who
are these consumers of Internet child pornography? Despite the
increased consumption of online child pornography, limited research
has been conducted on the differences between those individuals who
view, download, or share online child pornography from those who do
not. The research that does exist tends to only analyze those
individuals who have been arrested and are currently in the forensic
or criminal population (e.g., Frei et al 2005; Wolak Finkelhor &
Mitchell, 2005). In addition, many of these individuals are arrested
for the primary offense of child sexual abuse, and it is only during
the investigation that their child pornography crimes become known
(Taylor & Quayle 2003).
The lack
of previous research on the psychological or personality
characteristics of Internet child pornography users has currently left
a significant gap in the literature (Taylor & Quayle, 2003). Little
systematic and empirical work has been conducted regarding the
psychological risk factors of use for Internet child
pornography; although, some research exists on the personality
characteristics for consumers of various types of non-Internet
pornography (see review by Fisher & Barak 2001). For example, in a
study conducted by Bogaert (1993), 160 undergraduate men’s personality
characteristics, such as aggression, psychoticism, and
Machiavellianism, were assessed in order to determine if certain
individual differences would incline them to seek out certain types of
non-Internet sexually explicit videos, such as adults involved in
sexual violence or sexual acts involving children. The results
indicated that only 3% of the subjects preferred to view non-Internet
videos depicting children in a sexual nature, and the personality
characteristics associated with this pornographic choice were
aggression and dominance (Bogaert 1993). Although this study did not
analyze the consumers of Internet child pornography specifically, it
remains one of the most inclusive personality studies regarding
sexually explicit videos.
The
underlying theoretical foundation of the current study assessed how
child pornography users at large differ from non-users. The
expectation of different characteristics of users by nature of content
was an extension of Bandura’s (1977) theory of reciprocal
determinism. According to Bandura (1977), behavioral, psychological,
and environmental factors all interact and exert bidirectional
influences on human nature. In other words, the factors intermingled
and affected one another in multiple directions; however, the strength
and influence of each factor varied and depended on the different
situations and settings (see Figure 1; Bandura 1977; Bandura 1994).

Figure 1.
The
three factors for reciprocal determinism (i.e., P=psychological,
B=behavioral, and E=environmental) may interact in different
directions with varying degrees of power (Bandura 1977; Bandura 1994).
Williams, Howell, Cooper, Yuille, and Paulhus (2004) have suggested
Bandura’s (1977) theory of reciprocal determinism may have the answer
to why some people use pornography when others do not. Bandura’s
(1994) theory suggested that individuals with certain personality
traits are attracted to certain types of media content. In Williams
et al.’s (2004) study, the results indicated that the college students
with the sub-clinical (i.e., the individual had some psychopathic
traits but did not meet all of the diagnostic criteria for psychopathy
personality variable were more likely to actively seek out
pornographic materials than any other personality trait studied (e.g.,
extraversion, stability), which supported Bandura’s (1977) theory of
reciprocal determinism. If this theory can be applied to the use of
non-Internet pornographic materials, it was likely the theory could
explain why some people use Internet pornography, including those
images that sexually depict children. Thus, some individuals may have
different psychological traits, which play a role in their choice to
view, trade, and download child pornography on the Internet.
Current Study
The
purpose of the current study was to answer the following question,
“Who are these consumers of Internet child pornography?” The sample
was drawn from a population of Internet users via an anonymous survey,
which shifted away from the forensic or criminal populations utilized
in previous research. The demographic, personality, and behavioral
characteristics of the Internet sample were investigated in order to
examine the existence of any discriminating traits or factors between
the users and non-users of Internet child pornography. This analysis
provided valuable information, regarding the types of individuals who
utilized Internet child pornography, where there was previously a
significant gap in the literature.
In order
to test Bandura’s theory of reciprocal determinism, the current study
utilized several questionnaires in order to operationalize and measure
Bandura’s psychological, behavioral, and environmental factors;
however, only the psychological and behavioral factors were analyzed
in this current paper due to page requirements and brevity. In
addition, discussing and expanding upon the environmental factor and
its relationship to Internet child pornography consumption would be
greatly facilitated in a separate, exclusive article. The
psychological factor was measured using the following three
self-report questionnaires or scales: Goldberg’s (1992) modified Big 5
questionnaire, Moral Decision-Making Scale (Rogers Smoak & Liu, 2006),
and Altemeyer’s (1998) Exploitive-Manipulative Amoral Dishonesty
scale. All of these questionnaires were previously validated and
peer-reviewed in the areas of deviant computer behavior (Rogers
Seigfried & Tidke, 2006; Rogers, Smoak, et al., 2006). Since the
scales were previously used to measure computer criminal deviance
(e.g., hacking), the authors chose to utilize the same questionnaires
in this study of Internet child pornography, another example of
deviant computer use.
Specifically, the Big 5 questionnaire measured the respondent’s level
of openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion,
agreeableness, and neuroticism. In the Moral Decision-Making Scale (MDKS),
the respondent’s self-reported level of internal, hedonistic, and
social values when making moral choices or decisions was measured in
order to determine the individual’s level of moral development.
Finally, the Exploitive-Manipulative Amoral Dishonesty (EMAD) scale
measured the respondent’s level of exploitive, manipulative, and
dishonest tendencies. Overall, these three scales provided a measure
of the respondent’s various personality characteristics and traits in
order to operationalize Bandura’s psychological factor.
In order
to measure the behavioral aspect of Bandura’s theory of reciprocal
determinism, the respondents were categorized as either child
pornography users or non-child pornography users based on their
self-reported online behaviors as measured by the Online Pornography
Survey (OPS). The respondents were identified as consumers of online
child pornography if they reported engaging in any of the following
behaviors involving or featuring individuals under the age of 18
years:
-
Knowingly searched for pornographic materials;
-
Knowingly accessed a website in order to view pornographic
materials;
-
Knowingly downloaded pornographic materials; and
-
Knowingly exchanged or shared pornographic materials with someone
else over the Internet.
Those
respondents who did not report any of the online behaviors listed
above were labeled as non-child pornography users.
To
develop a framework for exploring individual differences related to
Internet child pornography, research focusing on other online deviant
behaviors was reviewed (Rogers et al 2006; Rogers, Smoak, et al.,
2006). While these studies focused on hacking behaviors and not
Internet child pornography, the element of online deviance is a common
enough thread to allow their research design and findings to be
relevant to the current study. By measuring the psychological and
behavioral relationship in Bandura’s (1977) theory of reciprocal
determinism, the current study theorized that individuals who consumed
Internet child pornography (behavioral) differed in their personality
characteristics (psychological) from those individuals who did not
utilize Internet child pornography. Specifically, the following
expectations were based on the relationship between the psychological
factor and behavioral aspect of Bandura’s model (i.e., P→B):
-
Neurotic Individuals will be more likely to use child pornography.
-
Introverted individuals will be more likely to use child
pornography.
-
Individuals open to experience will be more likely to use child
pornography.
-
Agreeable individuals will be less likely to use child pornography.
-
Conscientious individuals will be less likely to use child
pornography.
-
Exploitive and manipulative individuals will be more likely to use
child pornography.
-
Individuals
with lower moral decision-making scores will be more likely to use
child pornography.
Method
Participants
Subjects
were voluntarily recruited via the Internet by publicizing or
advertising the survey using various online resources, such as chat
rooms, bulletin boards, and email discussion forums. In order to take
the online survey, the respondents had to indicate they were 18 years
of age or older. As a default, the respondents also required the
ability to understand English since the survey was written in that
language. The participants were not provided with a monetary
incentive; the survey clearly stated the respondents’ reward for
completing the survey was the knowledge they were aiding scientific
research.
The questionnaires appeared in the
following order for all subjects: demographics survey, Big 5
personality inventory, Online Pornography Survey, Moral
Decision-Making Survey, and the Exploitive-Manipulative Amoral
Dishonesty scale (EMAD). The number of respondents varied for each
survey due to the fact subjects did not complete all of the
questionnaires for unknown reasons. 482 participants completed the
demographics questionnaire; 426 participants completed the Big 5
questionnaire; 375 participants completed the pornography
questionnaire; 357 participants completed the moral choice
questionnaire, and 346 respondents completed the EMAD questionnaire.
After removing the subjects that did not finish all of the scales,
along with those individuals that left uncompleted sections, the final
number of respondents was 307.
Instruments
The
online survey was comprised of several questionnaires, many of which
were previously used or adapted from several studies in the area of
deviant computer behavior (Rogers, Seigfried, et al., 2006; Rogers,
Smoak, et al., 2006). The demographics questionnaire was adapted from
the Rogers, and Seigfried, et al. (2006) study and recorded the
respondents’ basic information, such as age, gender, and marital
status. The Online Pornography Survey (OPS) was a spin-off from
Rogers’ (2001) Computer Crime Index (CCI), which measured the
frequency and prevalence of self-reported deviant computer behavior.
The OPS survey determined the extent to which the respondents used the
Internet for sexually explicit material, and it specifically
identified whether the respondent used adult, animal, or child
pornography. The only significant change between the CCI and OPS
survey was the content of the questions (i.e., computer hacking versus
child pornography use), for the scoring and the systematic approach of
the survey remained the same.
In order
to assess the personality characteristics of the respondents, the
modified Goldberg (1992) Big-5 questionnaire was used to measure the
following traits: extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience,
conscientiousness, and agreeableness. In addition, the Moral
Decision-Making Scale (MDKS) (Rogers, Smoak, et al., 2006) was
administered in order to measure the respondents’ moral choice and
decision-making tendencies, specifically on the dimensions of social,
internal, and hedonistic decisions. Finally, the
Exploitive-Manipulative Amoral Dishonesty Scale (EMAD) (Altemeyer,
1998) identified the respondents’ level of social dominance in the
areas of exploitation, manipulation, and dishonest behavior.
The
Cronbach’s alpha was calculated in order to measure the reliability of
each scale. The following are the reported Cronbach’s alphas for the
Big 5 subscales: extraversion (α
= .86), agreeableness (α
= .86), conscientiousness (α
= .86), neuroticism (α
= .79), and openness to experience (intellect) (α
= .86). For the EMAD total score, the Cronbach’s alpha was (α
= .86). The Moral Decision-Making subscales had the following
reported Cronbach’s alphas: Social (α
= .73), Internal (α
= .76), and Hedonistic = (α
= .72). Finally, the Online Pornography Survey yielded a Cronbach’s
alpha of (α
= .91).
Design and Procedure
The
study was conducted electronically using an Internet-based survey,
which was advertised in chat rooms, bulletin boards, and discussion
forums. Once the respondents accessed the website, the home page
explained the study while acting as a consent form to which the
respondents had to agree or decline to participate. If the
prospective respondents agreed, they had to click on the “I Agree”
button in order to participate. After clicking on the “I Agree”
button, the respondents were then instructed they could not use the
“back button” at any time during the course of the survey. Once this
requirement was acknowledged, the respondents were asked to fill out
five questionnaires, which approximately took 20 to 30 minutes to
complete in total. Once the questionnaires were completed, the
participants were taken to a page which thanked them for their time.
At no
time was the respondent asked for any identifying information (e.g.,
name). In order to protect the respondent’s anonymity and
confidentiality, the respondent was provided with an ID number, which
the database randomly assigned to the participant’s responses. Thus,
the responses to the questionnaires could not be linked or matched to
any particular subject because no identifying information was
requested; it was extremely important to uphold the respondent’s
anonymity since some of the questions involved the admission of
criminal activity via the Internet (e.g., exchanging child
pornography). As for the questionnaire items, the respondents were
not forced to answer the questions; instead, any item could be
“skipped” at any time.
Throughout the survey, the word “pornography” was defined by the
participant’s age in the sexualized images. Specifically, child
pornography was defined in the Online Pornography Survey as
“pornographic materials featuring individuals under the age of 18
years”. By defining child pornography without the word “child”, it
was thought this would be less inhibiting for the respondents when
admitting to criminally sanctioned behaviors. Thus, the word “child”
was never mentioned throughout the Online Pornography Survey. Once
the survey was completed, a statistical analysis was conducted in
order to determine whether or not there were psychological differences
between child pornography users and non-users.
Results
Descriptive Statistics
Of the
307 respondents, 277 (90.2%) were classified as non-users of child
pornography and 30 (9.8%) were classified as users of child
pornography. In other words, nearly 1 out of 10 people are consuming
Internet child pornography in this study. Of the 307 respondents, 181
(59%) were female and 126 (41%) were male. As shown in Table 1, of
the 30 child pornography users, 20 were male and 10 were female.
Interestingly, this indicated that there was a 2:1 ratio of men to
women who were using child pornography, which amounted to 15.9% of the
males and 5.5% of the females. The respondents’ ages ranged from 18
years to 81 years of age with a mean of 34.6 years. In addition, 24
(80%) of the child pornography users were 35 years of age or younger
(see Table 1).
Due to
missing data, only 301 respondents identified their race on the
demographics questionnaire. The variable “race” became dichotomous
because the authors collapsed the data since a variety of races were
reported on the demographics questionnaire, which led to a small cell
count. Of the 301 respondents, the majority (81.4%) were white, and
over half (57.1%) of the child pornography users were white (see Table
1). In addition, 306 respondents (1 missing) reported their marital
status with almost half of the respondents (n = 152)
identifying themselves as single, never married while 129 of the
respondents were married or in a common law relationship. Finally, 25
respondents stated they were separated, divorced, or widowed. As
shown in Table 1, 19 (63.3%) of the child pornography users were
single, never married.

Table 1:
Respondents’ Demographics by Child
Pornography Use
Regarding the participants’ religion (n = 304, 3 missing),
almost half of the respondents (49.3%) stated they were Christian.
The second largest group of respondents (32.2%) reported they were
either not religious or agnostic. As shown in Table 1, the largest
religious group for the child pornography users was the category
“other” (43.3%), which contained various
self-reported religions which had to be collapsed into one variable
due to small cell counts. Ignoring the religious category,
“other”, the second largest group of child pornography users
identified themselves as Christians (33.3%). As for the respondents’
highest level of completed education (n = 303, 4 missing), the
majority of the respondents (81.2%) had some form of completed college
education (see Table 1). In addition, the majority (82.1%) of the
child pornography users had completed some level of college (see Table
1). Finally, of the 305 respondents who recorded their annual income
(2 missing), 77.8% made $60,000 or less. In addition, Table 1 shows
over half of the child pornography users (n = 18) reported an
annual income of $20,000 or more.
The
descriptive statistics in Table 1 indicated the respondent’s gender,
religion, and race were correlated with the respondent being
classified as either a child pornography user or non-child pornography
user. Of those, the differences in gender and race were notable;
however, the religion breakdown was less interpretable given the
“other” category was comprised of numerous religions. Finally,
non-white males were more likely to report the use of Internet child
pornography.
Psychological and Behavioral (PB)
Relationship
Independent T-tests were conducted in order to determine if there was
a relationship between any of the psychological factors (i.e., the
Big-5, Moral Choice Decision-Making, and the EMAD personality traits)
and the behavioral factor (i.e., child pornography use). As shown in
Table 2, the analysis revealed child pornography users showed
significantly higher scores on the EMAD total compared to non-child
pornography users (M = 80.73 vs. M = 63.14,
respectively; t (305) = -4.15, p < .001). In addition,
child pornography users had lower scores on the Moral Choice IV total
than the non-child pornography users (M = 25.73 vs. M =
28.90, respectively; t (31.56) = 2.54, p < .01; see
Table 2).

Table 2:
T-Test Results for Psychological Traits
and Child Pornography Use
The
remaining psychological factors (i.e., moral choice hedonistic values,
moral choice social values, extraversion, neuroticism, openness to
experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) were not
significantly related to child pornography use (see Table 2).
Overall, the analysis suggested there was a relationship between
people’s psychological factors (EMAD and IV) and their behavior (child
porn use). Specifically, individuals with higher scores on the
exploitive-manipulative amoral dishonesty trait and lower scores on
the Moral Choice Internal Values trait were more likely to engage in
child pornography use.
Discussion
The
purpose of the current study is to answer the following question, “Who
are these consumers of Internet child pornography?” The analysis
provides valuable information regarding the types of individuals that
utilize sexualized images of children. The consumption of Internet
child pornography is related to whether the individual expressed an
exploitive-manipulative personality trait and lower moral choice
internal values, which supports the authors’ expectations. However,
the remaining psychological traits (i.e., moral choice hedonistic
values, moral choice social values, extraversion, neuroticism,
openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) are not
significantly related to Internet child pornography use. An
exploitive-manipulative trait and lower moral choice internal values
may be expected since the individuals using Internet child pornography
are engaging in an illegal activity, and their success depends upon
their ability to manipulate and exploit various facets within the
Internet in order to gain access to the deviant pornographic
materials. In addition, the exploitive-manipulative trait is similar
to other individuals engaging in deviant computer crimes, such as
hacking (Rogers, Smoak, et al., 2006).
Lower
moral choice internal values suggest the consumers of Internet child
pornography may not have the same personal, moral compass that
non-users refer do when determining what is “right and wrong”. A
person’s internal values are not determined by society’s laws or
regulations but are instead a private, moral choice. For instance,
drinking alcohol is illegal for individuals that are under an age set
by law. Despite the fact society says it is illegal for people who
are younger than the drinking age to drink alcohol, some people make
the moral choice that drinking is nonetheless “right for me”. This
moral decision is an example of an individual’s internal choice rather
than it resulting from society or hedonistic (i.e., pleasure-seeking)
factors. Thus, Internet child pornography consumers may understand it
is socially illegal, but they may not believe it is “wrong” for them
personally, compared to non-child pornography users who believe it is
both morally wrong at the social and individual level. Further
exploration is needed in order to understand the differences in moral
decision-making choices for Internet child pornography users and
non-users.
The
survey’s results also suggest women may be engaging in Internet child
pornography consumption more than originally suspected in previous
literature. For this study’s sample, 5.5% (n = 10) of the
women are child pornography users. This statistic is surprising since
the crime of child pornography has clearly been considered to be a
male phenomenon. This finding alone implores the need for future
research to gather samples that are not gender biased in order to
investigate the relationship between gender, online child pornography
use, and other psychological, and environmental factors.
In addition to gender, both the racial and age
characteristics of the study’s sample vary from previous demographic
profiles of Internet child pornography consumers. In particular, the
racial background was surprising since only 57.1% of the child
pornography consumers were white while 83.9% of the non-child
pornography users were white. For instance, the National Center for
Missing & Exploited Children’s National Juvenile Online Victimization
(N-JOV) study noted that 91% of the offenders in their sample were
white (Wolak et al., 2005). However, the current study suggests the
use of Internet child pornography, for the current study’s sampled
population, may be more racially diverse. In addition, the
respondents’ ages greatly varied in the current study compared to the
N-JOV’s study with 80% of the individuals using Internet child
pornography being under the age of 35 years compared to only 58% of
the N-JOV offenders being under the age of 39 years (Wolak et al
2005).
Overall,
the demographic information gathered in the current study suggests
more research is needed in order to determine if there are any
background characteristics common amongst child pornography users. As
technology continues to develop and expand, it makes intuitive sense
that the consumer of Internet child pornography will continue to
change as well. Thus, previous research may have suggested that
Internet child pornography was the crime of a “dirty, old man”. In
addition, previous reports (Oliver & Hyde 1995 and Malamuth 1996 as
cited in Frei et al 2005) suggest women have a “complete lack of
susceptibility to visual ‘erotica’ or ordinary pornography seems to be
the expression of a fundamental difference between the two sexes” (Frei
et al 2005). However, this current study suggests otherwise; thus,
there is an obvious need for future research to further investigate
the modern consumer of child pornography.
Conclusion
As
technology becomes the medium of choice for some criminals, society
must react by trying to understand the relationship between technology
and crime. Already, the World Wide Web has created a well-organized
environment that increases the amount of child pornography produced,
its availability, and the efficiency of distribution to other child
pornography users (Wortley & Smallbone 2006). However, we know
relatively little about the consumers of Internet child pornography
(Taylor & Quayle 2003). This current study was an attempt at
understanding the child pornography consumer; yet, future research
must continue if we are going to make a statement about the
relationship between personality characteristics and Internet child
pornography use. It is important to understand the individuals that
consume Internet child pornography as this knowledge will assist
therapeutic treatment strategies while aiding law enforcement in
serious criminal investigations. All in all, child pornography
consumption over the Internet is likely to continue to increase, and
unless researchers decide to make this area of study a priority, our
knowledge and ability to understand the relationship between this
crime and technology will remain stagnant and lost in the web of
cyberspace.
Limitations
The
current study is not without limitations. First, the sample was not
randomly chosen from an Internet population; thus, there is no claim
that it is representative of the population of Internet users at
large. In addition, there may be individual differences between those
individuals that chose to answer the survey completely or at all
versus those that did not. The study’s respondents obviously were
willing to take the time to answer the questionnaires so there may be
a “volunteer bias”. In addition, it was impossible to validate any of
the demographic information. Essentially, some respondents could have
misrepresented themselves by incorrectly responding to the items in a
way that distorted their true characteristics or behavior. Of course,
the same problem presents itself in any anonymous, hard-copy survey of
deviant behavior. However, one of the clear advantages to conducting
research via the Internet for this population is the fact that the
behavior in question is criminally sanctioned; thus, it is extremely
important to provide anonymity and confidentiality to these
respondents if honesty is what the researcher desires. The method
used for this study provided an effective cloak of safety, privacy,
and anonymity for respondents, which allowed them to be open and
honest about their experiences in engaging in deviant and/or illegal
behavior.
Despite these limitations, conducting research via the
Internet provides researchers with the opportunity to investigate
active users of child pornography within their own environment.
Rather than a forensic or therapeutic setting, this sample provides
extensive information about those individuals that use the Internet in
a deviant manner for child pornography while the person remains in
his/her cyberspace atmosphere. Future psychological research
conducted over the Internet in the area of child pornography is
possible and should continue, as there are an unlimited number of
respondents in the realm of cyberspace all having the ability to
provide psychological, environmental, and behavioral information.
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