The purpose of this study was to investigate Internet usage in a sample of college undergraduates, as well as to consider their experiences with online victimization, through variables representing the three constructs of Routine Activity Theory. A survey was administered to 100-level courses at a mid-sized university in the northeast, which questioned respondents on their Internet behaviors and experiences with victimization during the high school senior and college freshman time period. The findings of the study indicated that participating in behaviors that increased exposure to motivated offenders and target suitability in turn increased the likelihood of the three types of victimization measured. Conversely, taking protective measures against victimization to improve capable guardianship did not decrease the likelihood of victimization. This research provides a significant contribution to the literature as there are few explanatory studies that attempt to identify causal reasoning for the victimization of adolescents online.
A mixture of codeine cough syrup with alcohol and/or a soft drink known as "purple drank" has gained media attention in recent years as a drug associated with professional athletes and southern rap music. The existing research on purple drank consumption has primarily utilized samples of African Americans residing in the Houston, Texas area. This is the first scholarly study of purple drank use outside of the Houston, Texas area among a general population of young adults, and indicates that purple drank use is not limited to African American males. The findings depict higher odds of the use of purple drank among other racial and ethnic groups, males, and homosexual, bisexual, and transgender college students from urban areas.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in online victimization between genders, through variables representing the three constructs of routine activity theory. A survey was administered to 100-level courses at a mid-sized university in the northeast, which questioned respondent on their Internet behaviors and experiences during the high school senior and college freshman time period. The findings of the study indicated that participating in behaviors that increased exposure to motivated offenders and target suitability in turn increased the likelihood of victimization for both genders. Conversely, taking protective measures to improve capable guardianship was shown to be the least effective measure, as it did not decrease the likelihood of victimization. This research provides a significant contribution to the literature as there are few explanatory studies that attempt to identify causal reasoning for this behavior.
Internet predators are finding new ways to prey on the vulnerabilities of youth in chat rooms and lure them into sexual activities. This study will examine three chat room transcripts between adult predators and adult volunteers of the group "Perverted Justice" posing as youth. These conversations will be analyzed to interpret the underlying meanings behind the words and actions of the predators and how they affect potential victims. The purpose of this article is to provide insight to the reader of the increased amount of child sexual abuse on the Internet, the often-blatant tactics used by online predators to pursue this abuse, and how they are continuing to successfully manipulate children with them.
As usage of the Internet has grown to approximately 657 million users worldwide, criminality online has become more prevalent. Termed "cybercrime," this form of criminal behavior can occur in several different. While cybercrime in general is fairly new comparably to crimes in the physical realm, one of the most recently recognized forms of cybercrime is cyberbullying. The present study will examine the victimoffender relationship. Results indicate that both males and females with lower levels of self-control were more likely to participate in cyberbullying by posting hurtful messages or pictures to Facebook. Second, both sexes were more likely to cyerbullying via Facebook if they had been cyberbullied as well.
As technology has become an ever-present facet in the lives of young people, they have become reliant on it to form and maintain relationships. It has also helped facilitate negative relationship behaviors, such as the monitoring of romantic partners without their permission (aka cyberstalking). The purpose of this study is to investigate theoretical predictors of cyberstalking in a sample of university students by applying General Theory of Crime and Social Learning Theory. Results indicated that low self-control and deviant peer association are significant predictors of cyberstalking, specifically attempting to log-in to a person's social media, as well as social media presence and sex.
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