"Monsters" and the "Ideal Victim:" Assessing ICAC Investigators' Perceptions of CSEM Perpetrators and Victims

• In Event: Human Trafficking Representations and Awareness

Abstract

The development of information communication technologies (ICTs) has led to a growth of the production and consumption of child sexual exploitation materials (CSEM) (Burke et al., 2002; Marcum & Higgins, 2011). The enforcement of these crimes has largely fallen upon policing agencies and specialized units dedicated to investigating internet-facilitated crimes against children (ICAC) (Bossler & Holt, 2012). Unfortunately, little research has been conducted on individual cybercrime units despite their importance and notable imperative in combatting child exploitation. Specifically, there has been no examination on how ICAC investigators frame and understand perpetrators and victims of child exploitation, as well as their fellow investigators. Three research questions guided this analysis: (1) how do ICAC investigators perceive themselves; (2) how do ICAC investigators perceive offenders; and (3) how do ICAC investigators perceive victims? To answer these questions, this study analyzes a dataset of 47 qualitative interviews with ICAC detectives, civilian analysts, and administrators gathered as part of a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded study on cybercrime policing. Furthermore, a narrative criminological approach best informed the analytical development of perceptions through the power of language and storytelling (Presser, 2009; Presser & Sandberg, 2017).

Author

• Christopher Brewer, Illinois State University