by craigharper | Aug 29, 2014 | Forensic
Dr Hannah Merdian recently published an article on The Conversation, looking at the links between the consumption of online child sexual exploitation material (i.e. indecent images/videos of children) and contact sexual offending. Her article was sparked by the recent uncovering of hundreds of arrests that were made by the National Crime Agency in relation to online sexual exploitation of children.
Dr Merdian’s article can be viewed here: http://theconversation.com/severity-and-risk-are-not-the-same-when-it-comes-to-indecent-images-of-children-29507
by craigharper | Jun 2, 2014 | Forensic
An international group of researchers, led by FCRG member, Dr Hannah Merdian, have recently published research findings relating to the cognitive distortions of child sex offenders.
The abstract for the paper, published in Psychology, Crime & Law, reads:
This study examined the endorsement of cognitive distortions in child pornography offenders (CPOs), using an established assessment tool, the Abel and Becker Cognition Scale. The scale was expanded to include cognitions specific to child pornography offending, extracted from Howitt and Sheldon’s Children and Sexual Activities Inventory (C&SA). Three samples of CPOs, child sex offenders and offenders with both offence types responded to the cognition items. An exploratory Principal Component Analysis suggested six main components of the scale. CPOs were significantly less likely to endorse these statements in general, and this was more pronounced on items that project blame onto the child or other people, describe a need for power and consider children as sexually active. The statements extracted from C&SA did not differentiate between the groups. These findings are discussed under consideration of the relationship between cognitive distortions and contact sex offending, and in reference to the general criticism concerning the definition and appropriate measurement of cognitive distortions
You can access the full paper here:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1068316X.2014.902454#.U4z3BPldWT8.
Alternatively, please contact Dr Merdian (hmerdian@lincoln.ac.uk) directly.
by craigharper | Jun 2, 2014 | Forensic
FCRG PhD Student, Craig Harper, recently presented work from his MSc thesis, supervised and subsequently co-authored with group lead, Professor Todd Hogue, at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society. The work that was presented examined the representations of sexual offending within the national British press between August-November 2012, with a full-length paper currently being under review for publication.
For more information about this talk, please contact Craig Harper (charper@lincoln.ac.uk).
by craigharper | Nov 19, 2013 | Forensic
Dr Hannah Merdian was recently invited to present her work on ‘Typologies of Internet Sex Offenders’ at the New Directions in Sex Offender Practice conference hosted by Professor Leam Craig at the University of Birmingham.
This talk drew on Dr Merdian’s previous research and included a detailed analysis of some of the work she has been doing into her ‘three dimensions’ model of child sexual exploitation use.
For more information on this work, please contact Dr Merdian directly.
by craigharper | Oct 8, 2013 | Forensic
FCRG past and present have recently presented their research at two international conferences.
Danielle Kettleborough (past MSc and future PhD student) presented along with past MSc students, Rebecca Crookes and Charlotte Hassett at the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers (NOTA) conference in Cardiff (25-27 September 2013). All three were presenting findings from their MSc theses. Their slides can be accessed here:
D Kettleborough NOTA presentation / B Crookes NOTA presentation / C Hassett NOTA presentation
Additionally, Craig Harper (first year PhD student) presented a poster on findings from his MSc research at the “What is Justice?” international conference organised by the Howard League for Penal Reform and Keble College, Oxford University (1-2 October 2013). His poster can be found here:
C Harper HL poster
Congratulations to all four students!!
