Digital grooming : discourses of manipulation and cyber-crime

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Title:

Author:

Lorenzo-Dus, Nuria, author.

ISBN:

9780190845186

9780190845193

Personal Author:

Lorenzo-Dus, Nuria, author.

Physical Description:

xii, 254 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Series:

Oxford studies in sociolinguistics

Oxford studies in sociolinguistics.

General Note:

Source of cataloging data: WCP

Abstract:

"This book examines digital grooming as a discourse manipulation practice in digital spaces that are situated at, or beyond, the boundaries of law. It identifies and examines in detail the online discourse of adults' luring of children for sexual abuse and exploitation (digital sexual grooming); extreme ideology groups' aligning others to their views (digital ideological grooming); and drug dealers' transactional endeavours in crypto markets (digital commercial grooming). Style and stance analyses of large and varied datasets reveal that digital sexual, ideological and commercial groomers' practices have more in common than not. Three stances-expertise, openness and avidity-scaffold their manipulative work, which relies upon and constructs identity homogenisation. Digital groomers' discourse seeks to construct them and their targets as inhabiting a perfectly aligned ideological, affective and overall identity space. The better aligned they are, the more likely it is that they will see themselves as being dis-aligned from another equally homogenously constructed identities: their opponents'. The findings of this book can inform practitioner-based attempts at countering digital grooming, including development of detection software and prevention-focused training resources"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: Introduction -- Why examine digital grooming? A pressing social issue through a necessary discourse lens -- Of digital spaces and grooming practices -- discourse lens on digital grooming -- Researching digital grooming discourse: From data selection to researcher wellbeing -- In search of -- and (not) finding -- digital grooming data -- qualitative, identity-foregrounded analysis of digital grooming discourse -- Research ethics -- Book structure -- Digital Grooming: What It Is and How to Research It -- Introduction -- Digital grooming: A working definition -- Digital mediation -- Digital sharing -- Digital trust -- Digital engagement -- Manipulation -- Goal-oriention/Speaker interest -- Covertness -- Power asymmetry -- Coercion -- Intentionality -- Falsity/Insincerity -- Identity construction -- Conclusion -- Digital Sexual Grooming: Setting the Scene -- Introduction -- Profiling offenders and child targets of digital sexual grooming -- Participation frameworks in digital sexual grooming -- practice of digital sexual grooming -- Conclusion -- "You Are Like My Only Friend, Idc If You Are 12": Digital Sexual Grooming Discourse -- Introduction -- Digital sexual groomers' self-styling -- Sexual expertise -- Vulnerability openness -- Target avidity -- Digital sexual groomers' styling of their target -- Digital sexual groomers' styling of their opponent -- Conclusion -- Digital Ideological Grooming: Setting the Scene -- Introduction -- Ideology and community-building in digital ideological grooming -- Religious and/or political extremism -- Radical right groups' digital modus operandi -- Jihadi groups' digital modus operandi -- Conclusion -- "Let Them Starve, You Idiots!!! Why Feed VERMIN?": Digital Ideological Grooming Discourse -- Introduction -- Self-styling in digital ideological grooming -- Broad ("Jack-of-all-trades") expertise -- Toxic openness -- Impatient avidity -- Styling the target of digital ideological grooming -- Styling the opponent in digital ideological grooming -- Conclusion -- Digital Commercial Grooming: Setting the Scene -- Introduction -- Crypto-drug markets: More than an eBay for drugs -- technical structure of crypto-drug markets -- social structure of crypto-drug markets -- Conclusion -- "Your DrugBuddy": Digital Commercial Grooming Discourse -- Introduction -- Continuity and change in Silk Road -- Self-styling in digital commercial grooming -- Drug expertise -- Resilience openness -- Community avidity -- Styling the target in digital commercial grooming -- Styling the opponent in digital commercial grooming -- Conclusion -- Digital Grooming: Applications to Daily Life -- Introduction -- Digital grooming: Applying a discourse lens -- "digitalness" of digital grooming -- suigeneris form of manipulation -- identity-foregrounded approach to digital grooming -- Applying research findings to daily life: A focus on digital grooming and other online harms -- Project DRAGON-S (Developing Resistance Against Grooming Online: Spot and Shield) -- Conclusion.

Subject Term:

Child grooming (Child sexual abuse)

Internet and children.

Computer crimes.

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Sugar Grove - Todd Library	Book	HV6570 .L67 2023	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

Illicit digital activity is a substantial and growing problem. Extremists' use of social media over the past decade or so has raised increasing concern among governments and media corporations alike. In Digital Grooming Nuria Lorenzo-Dus analyzes manipulation practices in digital spaces that are situated at, or beyond, the boundaries of law. Lorenzo-Dus identifies and examines in detail the online discourse of adults luring children for sexual abuse and exploitation (digital sexual grooming); extreme ideology groups aligning others to their views (digital ideological grooming); and drug dealers soliciting business in crypto markets (digital commercial grooming). With sophisticated style and stance analyses of large and varied datasets, the book reveals that digital sexual, ideological, and commercial grooming practices have much in common. Three stances--expertise, openness, and avidity--scaffold this manipulative work, which constructs groomers and their targets as sharing a homogenous identity.

By shedding new light on grooming practices, this book provides a key resource for discourse analysis, forensic linguistics, communication, and media studies, as well as for practitioners aiming to counter online grooming through policy changes, detection software, and prevention-focused training to promote digital civility and safety.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

Lorenzo-Dus (linguistics, Swansea Univ., UK) here analyzes the online discourse of adults who endeavor to lure children for purposes of sexual abuse. This digital sexual grooming is shown to have commonalities with digital commercial grooming (i.e., illicit drug sellers seeking customers in crypto-markets) and digital ideological grooming (i.e., extreme ideologues seeking followers online). The linkages lie in the nature of the discourse, which includes mediation (sharing, trust, engagement), manipulation, and the construction of an online identity. The last chapter offers specific recommendations for implementing the book's findings in practice to detect and prevent digital grooming. This book is particularly timely given that the UN is in the early stages of negotiating a global cybercrime treaty that will undoubtedly include the protection of children from online exploitation. The analysis included here provides a valuable tool for understanding the nature and dynamics of the problem relevant to the fields of discourse analysis, communications, forensic linguistics, and media, as well as for policy makers and practitioners seeking to make meaningful change. Related titles include Beatriz Susana Uitts's Sex Trafficking of Children Online (CH, Feb'23, 60-1843) and Maggie Krell's Taking Down Backpage: Fighting the World's Largest Sex Trafficker (2022). Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty. --Jay S. Albanese, Virginia Commonwealth University