Final Report - European Online Grooming Project

eplacement predictors. The implications of this research for the risk assessment of online groomers is
discussed further in chapter 7.
Beyond the analysis of single demographic features, there were combinations of characteristics and
behaviours that suggest an approach-goal motivation for some of the sample, in line with the Ward and
Hudson (1998) classification. For example, the extent of formal education or training in Information,
Communication Technology (ICT) was not a barrier to achieving a sophisticated understanding of personal
computing and the Internet - learning that could then be utilised during contact with young people. Groomers
without a formal training in ICT talked about two overarching methods of learning.
The first was learning via the workplace. This is not unsurprising given that frequent use of the computer is
common for the majority of non-manual occupations. Consequently, for men with a sexual interest in children
whose age pre-dates the introduction of ICT lessons in mainstream education, employment sometimes
helped these offenders develop a sophisticated understanding of computing.
I have no formal IT qualifications, no, but I’m more than computer literate. When computers first came in at
work in the early 80’s, as a (occupation) I had to learn them and in the end got to re-design them…. (UK
participant, female victim age 10-12)
Second, some people with limited knowledge of ICT also talked about learning about the basics, and then
more advanced techniques from family members.
I’ve got a very rudimentary knowledge of the computer, if I lost some work I would have to call my wife to tell
me how to get it get it back for me…but you know (after a while) I found a way in, into ‘things’ after that. (UK
participant, female victim age 13-15)
However, instruction from family was not always overtly requested by the groomers. For some offenders,
observing their children’s online behaviour ‘over their shoulder’ was described as helpful in terms of knowing
the language and symbols/emoticons used by young people when social networking. This knowledge could
then be transferred to develop ‘credible’ conversations with young people online.
In contrast to those with no formal training in ICT, some men in the sample were highly proficient users of
computers, with qualifications and a dedicated role in the technology industry. How ICT skills were used to
manage the risk of online grooming by those proficient and people with less knowledge is explored in detail in
chapter 4. Regardless of how offenders became skilled in ICT, groomers’ accounts of learning were explicitly
or implicitly influenced by a drive to use ICT as competently as possible to meet adults and young people
online. This motivation meant the groomers talked about using desktop and laptop computers, as well as
gaming consoles to facilitate the online grooming of young people. The map of sites and chatrooms
accessed by participants encompassed five themes:
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