The Greentown study brought a serious child exploitation issue that was concealed from everyday sight into the open. Importantly, the research, which used local Garda testimony to provide detailed examination of social networks_,_ unearthed the corrosive influences that the network had on certain vulnerable local children's offending patterns.
Young adults within the crime network targeted, groomed and recruited local children into the network. There were obvious gains for children from their involvement in the crime network due to their circumstances, chaotic home lives, involvement in problematic peer groups and being out of school. These included access to drugs, alcohol, money and more intrinsic psychosocial gains such as gaining a sense of belonging, meaning and purpose.
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