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Designing a Classification System for Internet Offenders: Doing Cognitive Distortions

NCJ Number
221705
Journal
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 45 Issue: 1/2 Dated: 2007 Pages: 257-273
Author(s)
Steven F. Hundersmarck; Keith F. Durkin; Ronald L. Delong
Date Published
2007
Length
17 pages
Annotation
The purpose of this paper is to discuss a new study called the Internet Sex Offender Research Project. One of the major aims is to develop a classification system for these offenders.
Abstract
The difficulty in designing a classification system is to combine the practical needs of the police officer in the field with the research-based classification system. The classification system must be practically-based and at the same time must be theoretically sound. The formation of a coding system is hoped to mirror the process that police officers will use when they approach an interview with an offender who has been arrested for Internet crimes against children. By bringing the coding process as close as possible to the process that police officers go through during an investigation, it is also hoped it will bring both processes together. The coding process is expected to inform the classification system. This paper reports on the authors’ attempts in designing a classification system for Internet offenders under the Internet Sex Offender Research Project. It was designed based on existing theory, understanding the nature of Internet offenders, and the needs of police officers in the field. The goal of the Internet Sex Offender Research Project is to assist law enforcement officers and other criminal justice personnel in their investigations. Designing the classification system was an inductive process that involved reviewing videotapes of offender interviews and reviewing existing literature on offender typologies and cognitive distortion. Table, references