research proposal

 

 

 

Child Pornography and the Internet: The Trials and Tribulations of Policing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Research Proposal

 

 

 

 

 

 

Megan Osorio

English 202

Dr. Sherwood

Fall 2009

 

Abstract

            With the popularity of the internet and file sharing, more acts are becoming criminal, in the efforts to keep up with the digital age. Social networking sites have made it a lot easier for people to share information, and images - but sometimes; these advancements are not innocently used. The debate as to whether or not certain crimes occur via the internet is a too broad of a topic to touch base on. The crime intended to be the focal point of this research is child pornography. Do child pornography laws violate the first amendment rights? Does the internet hinder or enable policing of child pornography laws? This paper will begin with a description and history of child pornography before it gained speed with the internet; then evolve into the issues that law enforcement is facing when trying to police the internet and child pornography. We will realize at the end of this research that policing child pornography has run into some obstacles, a Supreme Court ruling stating the laws on child pornography does not violate first amendment rights; but also look at the advancements of law to protect us from the digital world.

 

Introduction

             From the research that has been conducted, this paper will reflect on the cheers and jeers of enforcing and applying child pornography laws when dealing with internet offenders. As much as child pornography is not a widely debated topic, there are numerous studies looking at offenders, why they offend, and whether or not the internet has enabled these pedophiles to hide from law enforcement.

            In the most recent years, a real crackdown on internet child pornography has increased and heightened one's knowledge, and made aware of how many child predators are out there in every kind of employment. The realization of the offenders being everyday people, and not someone who looks like a Jeffrey Dahmer, has warranted many people to be quick to judge a person a predator when some images may be innocent. Such a case has happened recently with a couple who took pictures of their two toddlers during bath time, went to get the film developed at a Wal-mart but was turned in to police because of the images. From this situation, could this happen with images on the internet?            

            By the conclusion of this research, hopefully recommendations can be made, whether it is to continue to progress with practices that have been effective, or to make additional laws and/or methods of enforcement.    

 

Fieldwork Statement

            Child pornography is not a widely spoken about, nor is it an issue in which a person is willing to confess to, because of this, I would find it very hard to find an offender who would be agree to an interview to help further my research.

            Right now, I am hoping to find a Criminology professor in my department who has done work and research in the field of child pornography, knowledge of cybercrimes, and a deep understanding of the laws applied. Just like the non-academic world, it will be interesting to find a professor who has an extensive knowledge of internet child pornography laws. It has been my experience from the many years and many classes taken here at this university, this topic has never come up for discussion.

            Sample questions for the interview will include: 1) Do you believe the internet has created more criminals, 2) Do you believe internet child pornography is harder to prosecute, 3) Are law enforcement agencies computer literate enough to be able to catch these offenders, 4) Should there be more laws against internet child pornography, 5) Would you have any recommendations to improve chances of enforcing and prosecuting these laws, 6) What has law enforcement agencies gotten right?   

 

Source Review

            For the history section of my paper, I have one article that focuses on this topic alone. A few of the other articles briefly touch base on the history of child pornography in which I will incorporate into my research. With the overview of child pornography's history, we will be able to see how the conversion into the internet and digital age had occurred. There is a briefing as to how many websites exist, how much of a following, and a write up of whom is typically a victim.

            The three articles involved in the law section give two different perspectives. The first article by Esposito, gives us a view of the current laws in placed for internet child pornography, what is needed to improve the laws, how to keep up with the ever evolving technology age, and the downfalls of policing. The second article, by Nunziato, looks at the current child pornography laws and their impact on decreasing the crimes. The third article by Wells, discusses the trials and tribulations of policing internet child pornography, what has to transpire in order to constitute it to be a crime.

            Howitt and Sheldon touch on as to who typically is the offender in child pornography crimes. These offenders are broken down into internet and contact offenders. Though it seems as if they are only talking about pedophilia, child pornography is considered a form of pedophilia. With this article, and hopefully with more articles for the final paper, I will be able to debate as to whether or not child pornography voyeurism is a form of pedophilia.

            The academic portions of this research presently take a look at two articles, with hopes to expand further. The first article by Middleton and others takes a look at a specific model of research to see why an offender commits a crime, but what trait in this person's life was the causation to do such crimes. The research done in this article takes a look at the Ward and Siegert Pathways Model of sexual offending, but applied it to internet offenders. The second academic article by Quayle and Taylor is a case study of multiple men who were convicted of downloading child pornography. Within this research, the authors looked at the transcripts of their interviews to determine the psychological affect these offenders have when they view such photographs. This article will help aid as determining what actions or at what point a crime is committed.

           

Working Bibliography

History:

Casanova, Manuel F., et al. "The History of Child Pornography on the Internet." Journal of Sex Education & Therapy 25.4 (2000): 245-251. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 1 Nov. 2009.

Law:

Esposito, Lesli C. "Regulating the Internet: The new battle against child pornography." Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law 30.2/3 (1998): 541. International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 1 Nov. 2009.

Nunziato, Dawn C. "Technology and Pornography." Brigham Young University Law Review 2007.6 (2007): 1535-1584. International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 6 Nov. 2009.

Wells, Melissa, et al. "Defining Child Pornography: Law Enforcement Dilemmas in Investigations of Internet Child Pornography Possession." Police Practice & Research 8.3 (2007): 269-282. International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 8 Nov. 2009.

Who Offends:

Howitt, Dennis, and Kerry Sheldon "The role of cognitive distortions in paedophilic offending: Internet and contact offenders compared." Psychology, Crime & Law 13.5 (2007): 469-486. International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 4 Nov. 2009.

Academic:

Middleton, David, et al. "An investigation into the applicability of the Ward and Siegert Pathways Model of child sexual abuse with Internet offenders." Psychology, Crime & Law 12.6 (2006): 589-603. International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 3 Nov. 2009.

Quayle, Ethel, and Max Taylor "Child Pornography and the Internet: Perpetuating a Cycle of Abuse." Deviant Behavior 23.4 (2002): 331-361. International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 8 Nov. 2009.