eprintid: 10195493
rev_number: 7
eprint_status: archive
userid: 699
dir: disk0/10/19/54/93
datestamp: 2024-08-07 08:44:47
lastmod: 2024-08-07 08:44:47
status_changed: 2024-08-07 08:44:47
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
sword_depositor: 699
creators_name: Prichard, Jeremy
creators_name: Wortley, Richard
creators_name: Watters, Paul
creators_name: Spiranovic, Caroline
creators_name: Scanlan, Joel
title: The effect of therapeutic and deterrent messages on Internet users attempting to access ‘barely legal’ pornography
ispublished: inpress
divisions: UCL
divisions: B04
divisions: F52
keywords: Child sexual exploitation material,
Situational crime prevention,
Pop-ups,
Warning banners,
Therapeutic messages
note: © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
abstract: Online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is a growing problem. Prevention charities, such as
Stop It Now! UK, use online messaging to dissuade users from viewing CSAM and to encourage
them to consider anonymous therapeutic interventions. This experiment used a honeypot website
that purported to contain barely legal pornography, which we treated as a proxy for CSAM. We
examined whether warnings would dissuade males (18–30 years) from visiting the website.
Participants (n = 474) who attempted to access the site were randomly allocated to one of four
conditions. The control group went straight to the landing page (control; n = 100). The experimental groups encountered different warning messages: deterrence-themed with an image (D3; n
= 117); therapeutic-themed (T1; n = 120); and therapeutic-themed with an image (T3; n = 137).
We measured the click through to the site. Three quarters of the control group attempted to enter
the pornography site, compared with 35 % to 47 % of the experimental groups. All messages were
effective: D3 (odds ratio [OR] = 5.02), T1 (OR = 4.06) and T2 (OR = 3.05). Images did not
enhance warning effectiveness. We argue that therapeutic and deterrent warnings are useful for
CSAM-prevention.
date: 2024-09
date_type: published
publisher: Elsevier BV
official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106955
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 2303038
doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106955
lyricists_name: Wortley, Richard
lyricists_id: RKWOR37
actors_name: Wortley, Richard
actors_id: RKWOR37
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Child Abuse & Neglect
volume: 155
article_number: 106955
issn: 0145-2134
citation:        Prichard, Jeremy;    Wortley, Richard;    Watters, Paul;    Spiranovic, Caroline;    Scanlan, Joel;      (2024)    The effect of therapeutic and deterrent messages on Internet users attempting to access ‘barely legal’ pornography.                   Child Abuse & Neglect , 155     , Article 106955.  10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106955 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106955>.    (In press).    Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10195493/1/Prichard%20et%20al%20therapeutic%20messages%202024.pdf