Skip to content Skip to navigation
University of Warwick
  • Study
  • |
  • Research
  • |
  • Business
  • |
  • Alumni
  • |
  • News
  • |
  • About

University of Warwick
Publications service & WRAP

Highlight your research

  • WRAP
    • Home
    • Search WRAP
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse WRAP by Year
    • Browse WRAP by Subject
    • Browse WRAP by Department
    • Browse WRAP by Funder
    • Browse Theses by Department
  • Publications Service
    • Home
    • Search Publications Service
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse Publications service by Year
    • Browse Publications service by Subject
    • Browse Publications service by Department
    • Browse Publications service by Funder
  • Help & Advice
University of Warwick

The Library

  • Login
  • Admin

Online grooming and preventive justice

Tools
- Tools
+ Tools

Sorell, Tom (2017) Online grooming and preventive justice. Criminal Law and Philosophy, 11 (4). pp. 705-724. doi:10.1007/s11572-016-9401-x ISSN 1871-9791.

[img] PDF
WRAP_Online Grooming and Preventive Justice 27_FM edit.pdf - Accepted Version - Requires a PDF viewer.

Download (940Kb)
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11572-016-9401-x

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

In England and Wales, Section 15 of the Sexual Offences Act (2003) criminalizes the act of meeting a child –someone under 16—after grooming. The question to be pursued in this paper is whether grooming –I confine myself to online grooming—is justly criminalized. I shall argue that it is. One line of thought will be indirect. I shall first try to rebut a general argument against the criminalization of acts that are preparatory to the commission of serious offences. Grooming is one such act, but there are others, sometimes associated with terrorism. According to me, the general argument misapplies certain considerations about autonomy that are alleged to be in force in other areas of criminal law. Contrary to that general argument, criminalization of preparatory acts does not, in general, bypass the agency of citizens. Moreover, the criminalization of preparatory acts can disrupt activity that would have led to very serious crime, and with relatively low costs to the perpetrators, costs that reflect the non-occurrence of the more serious crime. There is evidence that grooming is harmful in itself, and so another point against the general argument is its assumption that preparatory offences are often harmless or at least victimless. There are objections to some of the undercover policing techniques that lead to a Section 15 prosecution, but these objections are not all weighty.

Item Type: Journal Article
Alternative Title:
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare
K Law [LC] > KD England and Wales
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Politics and International Studies
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Child sexual abuse -- Prevention, Undercover operations, Sex crimes, Pedophilia
Journal or Publication Title: Criminal Law and Philosophy
Publisher: Springer Verlag
ISSN: 1871-9791
Official Date: December 2017
Dates:
DateEvent
December 2017Published
27 June 2016Available
4 June 2016Accepted
Volume: 11
Number: 4
Number of Pages: 20
Page Range: pp. 705-724
DOI: 10.1007/s11572-016-9401-x
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
Date of first compliant deposit: 4 June 2016
Date of first compliant Open Access: 27 June 2017
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC)
Grant number: ES/L003279/1
Related URLs:
  • Publisher

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics

twitter

Email us: wrap@warwick.ac.uk
Contact Details
About Us