The seductions of cybercrime: Adolescence and the thrills of digital transgression

Abstract

This article offers a socio-technical framework for better understanding youthful attraction to, and engagement in, online transgressions and delinquencies. Specifically, it takes the concept of ‘seduction’ from the work of Katz, as well as ‘affordance theory’ and insights from software and human–computer interaction studies, to analyse the affordances of the Internet that tempt and invite youthful transgressions such as digital piracy, viewing illegal pornography and hacking. We argue that Internet affordances not only enable transgressions to occur but can also precipitate them. The implications for youth crime policy are briefly addressed. Policy needs to reckon with the power of these factors in adolescent lives and thus minimize reliance on punitive responses. The article also contributes to the development of the concept of digital drift, by showing how Internet features and affordances foster drift into cyber delinquency.

Een kijkje achter de schermen: een kwalitatieve studie over het ontstaan van cybercriminele carrières

“…Aiken e.a., 2016;Bae, 2017;Hutchings, 2016;Yar, 2005). Om specifiek de rol van de digitale context bij de initiatie te duiden wordt tevens gebruik gemaakt van twee aanvullende benaderingen die steeds meer aandacht krijgen in cybercriminologisch onderzoek, namelijk het online disinhibitie-effect (Suler, 2004) en de affordance-benadering (Goldsmith & Wall, 2019).…”

“…Online acties hebben ook geen ervaren consequenties in het fysieke leven. Mensen kunnen zich hierdoor online anders voordoen dan ze in het 'echte' leven zijn, ook wel plasticiteit van de identiteit genoemd (Goldsmith & Wall, 2019;Yar, 2005). Dit kan van positieve invloed zijn, in de zin dat mensen zich eenvoudiger kunnen uiten en meer durven te zeggen en te doen (benign disinhibition), maar ook van negatieve invloed, in de zin dat het tot delinquent gedrag kan leiden (toxic disinhibition).…”

Understanding Cybercrime and Youth: A Perception Based Approach

“…It is also noted that the youngsters who indulge in cyber activities for most of their time are very much distracted from their mainstream society as well as their peers. The study conducted by Goldsmith and Wall (2019) explores the role of internet and cyber space in turning the youth into offenders. They argue that due to its' ease and accessibility, cybercrime space has made the youth more adrift towards the cyber criminality (see also Goldsmith & Brewer, 2015;Alter, 2017).…”

Enacting social engineering: the emotional experience of information security deception

“…Unfortunately, it is easy for scholars to fetishize the technological dimensions of "cybercrimes" and forget that thinking and feeling humans are involved (Leukfeldt, 2017;McGuire, 2016). Only some research has considered the emotional and experiential elements of "cyber-enabled" transgressions (Cross, 2019, p. 129;Goldsmith & Wall, 2019;Hutchings, 2013, p. 108;Steinmetz et al, 2017;Turgeman-Goldschmidt, 2008, p. 388). Further research is needed which considers the interactive, technological, and experiential elements of cybercrimes and cyber-enabled transgressions, including social engineering (Ferrell et al, 2015;Powell et al, 2018).…”

“…In particular, the current study focuses on the emotions involved in social engineering perpetration, building from prior research examining the role of emotions in other forms of information security and computer-related crime and victimization (e.g. Cross et al, 2018;Goldsmith & Wall, 2019;Steinmetz et al, 2017;Turgeman-Goldschmidt, 2008). Before describing the results, this study first reviews the relevant literature, starting with an overview of the criminology of emotions.…”