A Trauma-Informed Understanding of Online Offending

Book excerpt: This book examines the contemporary one-size-fits-all model of treatment for sexual offenders and challenges the confrontational approach to working with this group. In recent years, the incidence of people (predominantly men) getting arrested for inappropriate online usage has increased exponentially. This book attempts to understand why this is the case and what can be done to help these individuals and, in turn, reduce the risk of them re-offending. A stand-alone follow-up text from Hudson-Allez’s popular Infant Losses, Adult Searches, this book carries forward the compelling case study of Gordon from the previous text. Throughout his journey from arrest to rehabilitation, the chapters provide insight into the relationship between internet offending and dysfunctional attachments and neurodiversity. Our current understandings of childhood trauma, transgenerational transmission, and diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder and ADHD are all investigated in relation to cases of online offenders and practical therapeutic models are presented. This book is relevant to psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors and therapists working with forensic clients, and probation officers, social workers and police officers working within child-protection agencies.