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Illocutionary act

Definition

The social action performed by an utterance : requesting, threatening, promising, warning : distinct from its literal propositional content. Grooming discourse often uses surface-benign language to perform coercive illocutionary acts.

Related terms

Conversation analysis
The systematic study of the sequential structure of talk : how turns are allocated, how topics are initiated and responded to, and...
Desensitisation
A staged reduction of the target's resistance to sexual topics or contact, achieved in grooming through gradual introduction of sexual content, normalisation...
Entrapment
A legal defence arguing that law enforcement induced the defendant to commit an offence they would not otherwise have committed. In online...
Online grooming
A process by which an offender builds trust and emotional connection with a child (and sometimes the child's family) with the intention...
Secrecy enforcement
Linguistic strategies used by the groomer to prevent disclosure by the child: framing the relationship as a special secret, warning of consequences...

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