Designing a Classification System for Internet Offenders

Abstract

Televised features such as NBC's To Catch a Predatorhave highlighted the growing problem posed by Internet sexual predators. This paper reports on the authors' attempts in designing a classification system for Internet offenders. The classification system was designed based on existing theory, understanding the nature of Internet offenders and the needs of police officers in the field. Designing the classification system was an inductive process that involved reviewing videotapes of offender interviews and reviewing existing literature on offender typologies and cognitive distortions. This paper describes the first step in designing a classification system that will be used to classify Internet offender typologies, identify cognitive distortions and recommend interview techniques for confronting distortions for criminal justice personnel.

Key Words:

• Cognitive distortion
• situational offender
• preferential offender