Incels, a portmanteau of the term involuntary celibates, operate in online communities to discuss difficulties in attaining sexual relationships. Past reports have found that multiple elements of the incel culture are misogynistic and favorable towards violence. Further, several violent incidents have been linked to this community, which suggests that incel communities may resemble other ideologically motivated extremist groups. The current study employed an inductive qualitative analysis of over 8,000 posts made in two online incel communities to identify the norms, values, and beliefs of these groups from a subcultural perspective. Analyses found that the incel community was structured around five interrelated normative orders: the sexual market, women as naturally evil, legitimizing masculinity, male oppression, and violence. The implications of this analysis for our understanding of extremism and the role of the internet in radicalization to violence are considered in depth.

Sextortion, a portmanteau of “sexual” and “extortion,” is the threat to distribute intimate, sexual materials unless a victim complies with certain demands. Cyber sextortion is part of a larger continuum of image-based sexual offending in which images are used for harm. Despite the serious nature of this crime, there exists a dearth of empirical knowledge of sextortion. This article employed a qualitative content analysis of media articles and court documents to explore the crimes of 152 cyber sextortion offenders. Characteristics of offenders, victims, demands, and methodology were identified and synthesized to generate a qualitative understanding of offenders who employed cyber sextortion. The results revealed four different themes of offenders based on crime characteristics: minor-focused cyber sextortion offenders, cybercrime cyber sextortion offenders, intimately violent cyber sextortion offenders, and transnational criminal cyber sextortion offenders. The diverse nature of cyber sextortion has implications for crime control policies. Certain offenders are more likely to be apprehended and prosecuted depending on the crime victim and methodology. In addition, there has been a lack of legislative action targeting cyber sextortion, which limits legal recourse available for victims. We discuss the contribution of this work to the broader literature on cyber sextortion and address some of the challenges that this crime presents to the criminal justice system.

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A growing awareness of violence against LGBTQ + individuals has led to an increase in media coverage of the homicides of trans people in the United States. Media accounts involve powerful narratives which are subjective, biased, and imbued with meaning. These narratives employ "frames" that impact public perception of populations. Studies have demonstrated differences in the ways that trans victims of homicide are framed compared to cis victims, specifically regarding responsibility for the violence inflicted upon them. Trans victims are more likely to be constructed as "deviants" or criminals who are deserving of or responsible for their own homicides. In addition, these victims are framed as deceivers who deliberately obscure their gender modality from offenders, thus facilitating violent retaliation. The present study employs a mixed methods approach to analyze articles published in news media outlets about the twenty-six trans people killed in 2018. Our analysis identified more positive frames than negative frames employed by agents of social control, such as media and law enforcement, that inform narratives surrounding this unique form of violence. Yet, efforts still need to be undertaken to involve trans voices, to humanize those who have lost their lives, and most importantly, to prevent this violence. This article discusses implications for how these organizations can begin to transform these narratives to describe accurately trans victims of homicide.

The ubiquity of the Internet and computer technology has enabled individuals to engage in bullying, threats, and harassing communications online. Limited research has found that local line officers may not view these offenses as serious compared to real world crimes despite their negative physical and emotional impact on victims. The perceptions of officers can produce poor interactions with victims during calls for service, particularly victim blaming, which can reduce citizens’ confidence in police agencies generally. However, local law enforcement agencies are increasingly mandated to respond to these cases, calling to question how their views may impact the community. This study examined the attitudinal and demographic factors associated with the negative views of online harassment and bullying within a sample of 1,348 constables from 34 local agencies across England and Wales. The study found that constables with negative views toward cybercrimes and worked in agencies with inconsistent messaging related to online crimes were more likely to view online harassment as less serious and believe that these offenses could be avoided by victims. The implications of this study for local police staff and command are discussed in detail.

The overwhelming number of male victims of clergy sexual abuse led to assumptions regarding sexual preference of clergy offenders. The present study examined 9,540 records (incidents) of alleged cleric sexual abuse in the United States between 1950 and 1999 to explore situational factors of the abuse by victim gender. No evidence was found to suggest that male victims were purposefully targeted more than female victims; rather, the abuse appeared to be more a function of opportunity. These findings support a situational framework of sexual abuse for the majority of clergy abuse and the assertion that abuse in church can be understood as not a crisis regarding homosexuality but as a social problem that must be examined in its context.

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Minimal research has considered the extent to which pedophile social support forum users disclose physical relationships with minors in the course of their posts. As these forums cater to those who express sexual interests in minors, the users may be at higher risk for contact offenses and require unique treatment and supervision. To address this gap in the literature, this study utilized a quantitative analysis of the posts from 806 users from four separate pedophile support forums to identify the correlates of self-disclosed contact with minors. The findings demonstrated that although most users do not disclose physical contact, those who do share several common traits, specifically fantasies of minors, mentions of relationships with minors, and a sexually suggestive username. The implications of this analysis for our understanding of the role of online forums and potential clinical treatment are discussed in detail.