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Cited by 7Discourse Analysis in Language StudiesCybercrime and Law Enforcement StudiesLanguage, Discourse, Communication Strategies

A corpus-assisted discourse analysis of children’s and groomers’ talk in online grooming interactions

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Evans, Craig, Lorenzo-Dus, Nuria·2025·Applied Corpus Linguistics
DOI 10.1016/j.acorp.2025.100147
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Abstract

Harmful communication may not always be recognisable as such, especially when it is manipulative and deceptive and appears to be indistinguishable from innocuous communication. This is the case with online child sexual grooming, where talk from interactions between groomers and children may resemble that seen between friends or consenting adults chatting. However, recognising that online grooming may be taking place is not simply a matter of spotting tell-tale words or phrases. It requires engaging with ways that online grooming is discursive: involving groomers and children using language to perform particular functions as they pursue different goals through a dynamic exchange. We address this need in this study by providing the first ever complete account of online grooming discourse, one that identifies features not only of groomers’ talk but also of children’s, using collocates of the most frequent content words in a corpus of each. Comparing findings between the two highlights distinctiveness that helps make online grooming communication more identifiable. It also reveals strong similarity, perhaps reflecting groomers’ efforts to minimise perpetrator/victim contrast for deception purposes. An advantage of using a corpus-assisted discourse studies approach, as found in our study, is that it can uncover subtle, non-obvious patterns that may serve as indicators of online grooming despite such deception.

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  • The resistance management module was presented in the form of hypothetical statements, softened or approximate rephrasings, conditional statements, requests for specific information, or new offers, with the aim of managing or defusing conflict arising from victim resistance.

    “Moreover, this was presented in the form of hypothetical statements, softened or approximate rephrasings, conditional statements, requests for specific information, or new offers, with the aim of managing or defusing the conflict that arises during the interaction in response to the resistance of the victim (Evans & Lorenzo-Dus, 2025).”

    From DISCOURSE ANALYSIS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CYBERGROOMING DETECTION MODEL ON ROBLOX (2026) · cites this paper as Evans & Lorenzo-Dus, 2025

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Authors
Evans, C., & Lorenzo-Dus, N.
Affiliations
Swansea University (GB)
Corresponding author
Lorenzo-Dus, Nuria
ORCID
Venue
Applied Corpus Linguistics
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2025-12
Volume
5
Issue
3
Pages
100147
ISSN
2666-7991 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.acorp.2025.100147
OpenAlex
W7078330654
Cited by
3
References
19
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1
FWCI
29.88
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
Applied Corpus Linguistics (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
  • Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICN/AEIO/10.13039/501100011033)
  • Gobierno de Espana Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Discourse Analysis in Language Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies
Keywords
children's talk, deception, collocates, online child sexual abuse, manipulative communication

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