“Under His Spell”: Victims’ Perspectives of Being Groomed Online

Helen C. Whittle, Catherine E. Hamilton-Giachritsis and Anthony R. Beech
Additional contact information
Helen C. Whittle: Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, London SW1V 2WG, UK
Catherine E. Hamilton-Giachritsis: School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
Anthony R. Beech: School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK

Social Sciences, 2014, vol. 3, issue 3, 1-23

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to highlight key themes within the process of online grooming from the victim’s perspective. Eight adolescents who experienced online grooming were interviewed and data were analysed using Thematic Analysis. It was found that participants, who had been both sexually abused online and/or offline, were subjected to a range of grooming experiences. Consistent grooming themes within this sample included: manipulation; deception; regular/intense contact; secrecy; sexualisation; kindness and flattery; erratic temperament and nastiness; and simultaneous grooming of those close to the victim. These themes are similar to those identified by the literature surrounding grooming offline. Analysis demonstrated that once a participant was ‘enmeshed’ in the relationship with the offender, they were more likely to endure negative feelings associated with the grooming, than if the victim was not ‘enmeshed’. This paper supports the notion that grooming is a varied and non-linear process. Recommendations are made for practitioners, parents and carers, as well as suggestions for primary preventative education.

Keywords: online grooming; victims; child sexual abuse; adolescents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/3/3/404/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/3/3/404/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:3:y:2014:i:3:p:404-426:d:39097

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Yvonne Chu

More articles in Social Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().