Therapeutic The COPINE scale was originally developed for therapeutic psychological purposes. More specifically, it is used to distinguish between
child erotica and
child pornography. Professor
Max Taylor, one of the academics working for the COPINE project, stated: "The significance of this distinction is to emphasise the potential sexual qualities of a whole range of kinds of photographs (and other material as well) not all of which may meet
obscenity criteria."
Judicial In the late 1990s, the COPINE project at the University College Cork, in cooperation with the
Paedophile Unit of the London Metropolitan Police, developed a typology to categorize child abuse images for use in both research and law enforcement.
The SAP scale The 2002 case of
Regina v Oliver in the
Court of Appeal of England and Wales established a scale by which indecent images of children could be "graded". The five point scale, established by the
Sentencing Advisory Panel for England and Wales and adopted in 2002, is known as the
SAP scale. It is based on COPINE terminology and is often mistakenly referred to as such. The SAP document gives a detailed explanation of how the COPINE scale was adapted. It also states that the COPINE scale was intended for therapeutic use and not designed for use in court. Examination of the categories will show that categories 2–5 of the SAP scale obviously correspond to categories 7–10 of the COPINE scale. Category 1 of the SAP scale seems to correspond vaguely to categories 4–6 of the COPINE scale. COPINE category 1 (indicative) was left off the SAP scale because "images of this nature would not be classed as indecent." The board found COPINE categories 2 & 3 to be disputable as to whether or not they can be classified as indecent. ==See also==