Online, the opportunity to commit a crime is never more than a few clicks away.Sex Offenders and the Internet explores the nature of online sex offenders in order to help practitioners understand and treat this new category of client. Kerry Sheldon and Dennis Howitt examine the research base by reviewing case studies and psychological profiles, with a particular focus on paedophilic Internet sex offenders. Issues covered include child pornography, the often overlooked excuses for paedophilia, and how we can move forward. The result is a book that comprehensively details the nature of Internet sex offenders, bringing together the relevant research into one essential volume.

Kerry Sheldon is Lecturer in Psychology and Criminology at the University of Gloucestershire. She trained in investigative psychology at the University of Liverpool before obtaining her PhD in psychology at the University of Sciences at Loughborough University. In between these, she worked for the probation service in sex offender treatment where she first encountered Internet sex offenders. She has substantial publications in the field of sex offending and the Internet.

Dennis Howitt is reader in Applied Psychology in the Department of Social Sciences at Loughborough University. he is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and a chartered psychologist. His books in the field of crime and sex abuse include paedophiles and Sexual Offences Against Children (Wiley, 1995), Crime, The Media and the Law (Wiley, 1998) and Child Abuse Errors (Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1992). He is author of Introduction to Forensic and Criminal Psychology (2nd edition, Pearson Education, 2006). He has published books in the field of race with Kwame Owusu-Bempah including Psychology Beyond Western Perspectives (British Psychological Society, 2000) and The Racism of Psychology (Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1994). Amongst his well-known methods textbooks with Duncan Cramer are Introduction to Statistics in Psychology (4th edition, Pearson Education 2008). Introduction to SPSS in Psychology (4th Edition, Pearson Education 2008) and Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology (2nd edition, Pearson Education 2008).

About the Authors.

Acknowledgements.

1 Sex Offending on the Internet.

2 The Issue of Child Pornography.

3 What we Know about Paedophilia.

4 Creating and Controlling the Internet Sex Offender.

5 What Internet Sex Offenders Do.

6 The Childhood Histories of Paedophiles.

7 Sexual Abuse and Sexualisation in the Childhoods of Paedophiles.

8 Coping with Life through Abuse and Child Pornography.

9 Relationships in Childhood and Adulthood: Security and Attachment.

10 Sexual Fantasy and Paedophile Offenders.

11 Distorted Thinking.

12 Desisting from Child Abuse.

Epilogue: What has been Learnt and What shall we Do?

References.

Author Index.

Subject Index.