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Abstract: 

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a twopart series on the grooming of child victims. This article is an explication of the grooming process and includes operational definitions, stages, and a need-based theoretical perspective of the grooming process. The second article in the series will look at social networking websites (e.g., MySpace) and the information acquisition that goes into choosing a victim based on a levels perspective of information generation. The second article will specifically apply the grooming techniques to the computer networking context. Grooming is a communication process by which a perpetrator applies affinity-seeking strategies, while simultaneously engaging in sexual desensitization and information acquisition about targeted victims in order to develop relationships that result in need fulfillment.

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Affiliations:  1: Iowa State University.