Analyse and research of area related to criminology (based on Essay

Analyse and research of area related to criminology (based on article)) - Essay Example The purpose of this research is to examine the use of the internet as a tool for sexual predation, particularly by women. Following a literature review on the topic, 50 participants from the North-East of England to examine how much of a danger female sex offenders are perceived to be in the context of cyber-crime. Martellozzo, Nehring & Taylor (2010) established that females do indeed use the internet to target children as part of a sex offence. However, the area has not received much attention, and therefore there can be a taboo about female sex offenders and it can be difficult for criminal investigations to come to a solid conclusion, as the area is poorly understood. Martellozzo, Nehring & Taylor (2010) describe the use of the internet by female sex offenders as an ‘emerging problem’ (p1) which needs to be addressed in a criminological manner to fully understand the consequences and significance of the problem. It is perhaps important to define what constitutes child abuse in an electronic manner to fully understand the context of the article. Child sexual abuse in a cybercrime context can include (but is not limited to) sharing and downloading of sexual photography of underage individuals, the use of explicit language in chat rooms and through other online media, and the approaching of minors with the aim of starting a sexual relationship in the ‘real world’ (Martellozzo, Nehring & Taylor, 2010, p2). The internet allows these activities to be conducted with a degree of secrecy, which means that children are often more at risk of these activities online than they are in the ‘real world’, although the effects may be just as damaging. The research involved in the work of Martellozzo, Nehring & Taylor (2010) consisted of an exploratory method involving collection of qualitative data from open interviews with 15 female sex offenders post-arrest. These