There are claims that the societal appetite for ‘child exploitation material’ is increasing. Yet, Australia’s policy response does not include initiatives to dissuade potential offenders from deliberately viewing child exploitation material for the first time (onset). To critically examine this issue, this paper draws on Situational Crime Prevention theory. It argues that (a) many first-time child exploitation material viewers fit the Situational Crime Prevention construct of the Opportunistic Offender and (b) suggests that current policy overlooks the kinds of non-instrumental factors that increase the risk of onset for this group, including doubts about the criminality and harmfulness of viewing child exploitation material. The paper then empirically examines social attitudes to child exploitation material viewing by presenting the findings of a survey of 504 Australian internet users. Results indicate that a sizeable minority of the participants were: unaware that it is a crime to view certain types of child exploitation material in Australia; and held doubts about the harmfulness of viewing child exploitation material. These findings are used to reflect on how the presence of these non-instrumental factors among ordinary internet users may affect the offending readiness of the Opportunistic Offender. Policy implications are then briefly discussed.

中文翻译：

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为什么互联网用户对观看儿童剥削材料的看法对预防政策很重要

有人声称社会对“儿童剥削材料”的胃口正在增加。然而，澳大利亚的政策回应不包括劝阻潜在犯罪者首次（开始）故意观看儿童剥削材料的举措。为了批判性地研究这个问题，本文借鉴了情景犯罪预防理论。它认为 (a) 许多第一次观看儿童剥削材料的人符合机会主义罪犯的情景犯罪预防结构，并且 (b) 表明当前的政策忽视了增加该群体发病风险的各种非工具性因素，包括对观看儿童剥削材料的犯罪性和危害性的怀疑。然后，该论文通过展示对 504 名澳大利亚互联网用户的调查结果，实证检验了社会对儿童剥削材料观看的态度。结果表明，相当多的参与者是： 不知道在澳大利亚观看某些类型的儿童剥削材料是犯罪行为；并对观看儿童剥削材料的危害性表示怀疑。这些调查结果用于反映普通互联网用户中这些非工具因素的存在如何影响机会主义罪犯的犯罪准备。然后简要讨论政策影响。并对观看儿童剥削材料的危害性表示怀疑。这些调查结果用于反映普通互联网用户中这些非工具因素的存在如何影响机会主义罪犯的犯罪准备。然后简要讨论政策影响。并对观看儿童剥削材料的危害性表示怀疑。这些调查结果用于反映普通互联网用户中这些非工具因素的存在如何影响机会主义罪犯的犯罪准备。然后简要讨论政策影响。