ABSTRACT
Situational prevention shifts attention from the psychological characteristics of the individual performing behaviour to the facilitating role played by the immediate environment in which the behaviour occurs. Applied to the problem of Internet child pornography, the situational approach emphasizes the role of opportunity in driving consumption. It is argued that under the right environmental conditions the potential to view children as sexual objects is more widespread than sexual deviance models suggest. The Internet allows individuals to satisfy their secret desires conveniently, cheaply and relatively risk-free. Situational prevention of Internet child pornography requires strategies that reduce the opportunities for accessing child abuse images by making the activity less rewarding, more difficult and riskier.
