Deterrents to Viewing Indecent Images of Children Online: A Protocol for a Meta-Narrative Review

Emily F Newmand,Nikolaos Koukopoulos,Laura A Cariola,Richard Wortley,Karen Cooper,Ethel Quayle,Klaus M Beier,Tom Squire

doi:10.7565/ssp.2018.2648

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Evidence indicates that the viewing of indecent images of children (IIOC) has increased due to the emergence of, and increased access to, the Internet. Over the last 20 years there has been a high level of collaboration between various stakeholders to prevent and restrict access to IIOC. Nevertheless, there is no comprehensive review of these approaches or their effect as deterrents to viewing IIOC. METHODS/DESIGN: This paper presents a protocol for a meta narrative review of the deterrents to viewing indecent images of children (IIOC) online. The meta narrative review methodology allows researchers to systematically identify and review different understandings, or narratives, of a subject across a range of disciplines, with the aim of synthesising this diverse literature and providing recommendations to researchers, practitioners and policymakers. We outline the authors’ approach to the review, focusing on six methodological steps: planning the review scope, questions and outputs, systematic searching of academic and grey literature, mapping the identified articles according to disciplines and their narratives, appraising the evidence within narratives, then synthesising the conceptualisations and evidence from the different disciplines to generate overarching narratives and recommendations to stakeholders. DISCUSSION: The discussion considers the anticipated benefits and challenges of conducting the review, and makes recommendations for other researchers embarking on this type of review.

Highlights

Evidence indicates that the viewing of indecent images of children (IIOC) has increased due to the emergence of, and increased access to, the Internet (Wolak, Finkelhor & Mitchell, 2012)
The approach was deemed appropriate for our review because, there has been an interest in exploring deterrence of online IIOC through the lenses of various science disciplines, including computing science and information technology, as well as within social sciences, criminology and law
After an initial agreement between the funder, research team and advisory panel of the review’s intended scope, it was clear that a consistent application of the inclusion criteria was not easy, where there are degrees of consideration to deterrence in a paper, or IIOC could be linked with other topics, such as sex trafficking or grooming, but may not be

Summary

Introduction

Evidence indicates that the viewing of indecent images of children (IIOC) has increased due to the emergence of, and increased access to, the Internet. There is no comprehensive review of these approaches or their effect as deterrents to viewing IIOC. Evidence indicates that the viewing of indecent images of children (IIOC) has increased due to the emergence of, and increased access to, the Internet (Wolak, Finkelhor & Mitchell, 2012). It is impossible to determine exactly how many people are accessing IIOC online because many offences are undetected (Elliott & Beech, 2009). An increase in the number of online offences recorded suggests that the greater accessibility to IIOC afforded by the internet has created a significant global problem in terms of creating and viewing IIOC. Evidence from the US has demonstrated that arrests for the possession of IIOC increased by one third from 2006 to 2009, and in the proceeding period between 2000 and 2006

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Conclusion