Introduction to Cyber Criminology

 A crime is an illegal act that is punished by a legal authority. A crime is an act

that is harmful to the person who commits the crime as well as to the society,
community, or state. Crime is caused due to various reasons that may force an
individual to commit it to fulfill its needs. There are some theories of causation
of crime that we are going to discuss. First of all, we need to know how crime
has been caused and what are the reasons behind it.
General Types of Crime
 Many types of crime exist. According to research done by University of
Minnesota, Criminologists commonly group crimes into several major
categories:
(1) Violent crime; (2) Property crime; (3) White-collar crime;
(4) organized crime; and (5) consensual or victimless crime.
 Within each category, many more specific crimes exist.
 For example, violent crime includes homicide, aggravated and simple assault,
rape and sexual assault, and robbery
 For example property crime includes burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft.
Violent crime

 In a violent crime, a victim is harmed by or threatened with violence. Violent

crimes include rape and sexual assault, robbery, assault and murder.
 They trap some people inside their homes and makes others afraid to let their
children play outside or even to walk to school. Rape and sexual assault are a
common concern for many women and leads them to be more fearful of being
victimized than men.
 Research on violent crime tends to focus on homicide and on rape and sexual
assault. Homicide, of course, is considered the most serious crime because it
involves the taking of a human life.
Violent crime

 Certain aspects of homicide are worth noting. First, although some homicides
are planned, most in fact are relatively spontaneous and the result of intense
emotions like anger, hatred, or jealousy
 Second, and related to the first aspect, most homicide offenders and victims
knew each other before the homicide occurred.
 Third, about two-thirds of homicides involve firearms. To be a bit more precise,
just over half involve a handgun, and the remaining firearm-related homicides
involve a shotgun, rifle, or another undetermined firearm.
 Fourth, most homicides (as most violent crime in general) are interracial,
meaning that they occur within the same race; the offender and victim are of
the same race.
 Fifth males commit about 90 percent of all homicides and females commit only
10 percent.
Property Crime

 Property crime is any illegal activity that involves the destruction or transfer
of property whether or not an act of violence is used or threatened in doing
so.
 The major property crimes are burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft,
vandalism and arson.
White-Collar Crime
 If you were asked to picture a criminal in your mind, what image would you be likely to
think of first: a scruffy young male with a scowl or sneer on his face, or a handsome,
middle-aged man dressed in a three-piece business suit? No doubt the former image
would come to mind first, if only because violent crime and property crime dominate
newspaper headlines and television newscasts and because many of us have been
victims of violent or property crime.
 A crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course
of his/her occupation. E.g Employee theft, Certain market timing schemes, supply
of Unsafe products and shop repair fraud
 These crimes are characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and are
not dependent on the application or threat of physical force or violence.
 The motivation behind these crimes is financial—to obtain or avoid losing money,
property, or services or to secure a personal or business advantage.
 These are not victimless crimes. A single scam can destroy a company, devastate
families by wiping out their life savings, or cost investors billions of dollars (or even all
three).
Organized Crime

 Organized crime refers to criminal activity by groups or organizations whose

major purpose for existing is to commit such crime.
 When we hear the term “organized crime,” we almost automatically think of
the so-called Mafia, vividly portrayed in the Godfather movies and other
films, that comprises several highly organized and hierarchical Italian
American “families.
 What are these roots? Simply put, organized crime exists and even thrives
because it provides goods and/or services that the public demands. E.g
illegal drugs, prostitution, pornography, gambling.
Consensual Crime
 Consensual crime (also called victimless crime) refers to behaviors in which
people engage voluntarily and willingly even though these behaviors violate
the law. Illegal drug use, prostitution, gambling, and pornography.
 People who use illegal drugs, who hire themselves out as prostitutes or
employ the services of a prostitute, who gamble illegally, and who use
pornography are all doing so because they want to.
 These behaviors are not entirely victimless, as illegal drug users, for example,
may harm themselves and others, and that is why the term consensual crime
is often preferred over victimless crime.
 Questions:
(a) To what extent should the government prohibit people from engaging in
behavior in which there are no unwilling victims, and (b) do laws against
consensual crime do more good than harm or more harm than good?
Crime causation theories
 Crime causation is a discouraging and multiplex field. For centuries,
philosophers have reviewed the meaning of the conception of cause as it
regards human behavior. Growingly, research advises that individuals are
unaware of the causes of the other people’s behaviour as well as the causes
of much of their performance.
 Modern crimes cause models to favour an interdisciplinary lens that
recognizes how different fields complement, rather than contract with, one
another. This approach acknowledges that no single theory can explain all the
types of criminality nor the legal and moral issues that convoy them.
Crime causation theories

 Those who enter the criminal justice field quickly learn

that understanding criminology theories for why people turn to crime is key to
reducing crime rates and making society safer. After three decades of
research, three major psychological theories of time have emerged:
psychodynamic theory, behavioral theory and cognitive theory.
 Learning these criminology theories and how to put them into practice is a
component of an online Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice degree
program. For many students, understanding why people commit crimes is one
of the major reasons they want to enter the criminal justice field.
Crime causation theories

 The three major criminal theories have emerged after decades of research on
the criminal mind.
 The psychodynamic theory centers on a person’s early childhood experience
and how it influences the likelihood for committing crime.
 Behavioral theory focuses on how perception of the world influences
behavior.
 And cognitive theory focuses on how people manifest their perceptions can
lead to a life of crime.
Psychodynamic Theory

 This theory largely comes to us from the mind of noted psychologist

Sigmund Freud. He argued that everyone has instinctual drives (called the
“id”) that demand gratification. Moral and ethical codes (called the
“superego”) regulate these drives, and adults later develop a rational
personality (called the “ego”) that mediates between the id and superego.
Based on this idea, criminal behavior is seen primarily as a failure of the
superego.
 More generally, psychodynamic theory sees criminal behavior as a conflict
between the id, ego and superego. This conflict can lead to people
developing problematic behavior and delinquency. The challenge with this
theory is it is difficult to test.
Behavioral Theory

 This theory revolves around the idea that human behavior develops through
experience. Specifically, behavioral theory focuses on the idea that people
develop their behavior based on the reaction their behavior gets from those
around them. This is a form of conditioning, where behavior is learned and
reinforced by rewards or punishment.
 So, if a person is in the company of those who condone and even reward
criminal behavior – especially a figure of authority – then they will continue to
engage in that behavior. For example, social learning theorist Albert Bandura
maintains individuals are not born with an innate ability to act violently. He
instead suggests people learn violent behavior through observing
others. Typically, this comes from three sources: family, environmental
experiences and the mass media.
Cognitive Theory
 Cognitive theory focuses on how people perceive the world and how this
perception governs their actions, thoughts and emotions. Most cognitive
theorists break down the process into three levels of what is called “moral
development.”
 Pre-conventional level. This involves children and how they learn the external
consequences of their actions.
 Conventional level. This involves teens and young adults, who begin to base behavior
on society’s views and expectations.
 Post-conventional level. In those over the age of 20, the focus is more on judging the
moral worth of societal values and rules and how they relate to values of liberty,
human welfare and human rights
 In the area of crime, cognitive theorists argue that criminals do not develop
moral judgment beyond a pre-conventional level.
Causes of crime

 The causes of crime and thus the factors that affect crime rates are a source
of eternal debate.
 Nobody has been able to establish with any certainty which factors are most
important and which take second place. Interestingly, the crime rates within
a specific country may fluctuate over time.
Poverty and socio-economic conditions

 Poverty is often seen as a cause of crime.

 High levels of crime are often associated with communities where poverty is
prevalent.
 There are many countries affected by poverty. Some of these countries have
very high levels of crime. Some have only moderate crime.
 There are also huge differences in the types of crime committed in various
poor economies. In some countries crime is associated with high levels of
violence.
 In others it is simply theft while in others there is a large element of
organised crime involving drugs, prostitution and racketeering.
Rapidly changing societies

 Societies that have undergone radical change in a short space of time often
experience increased levels of crime.
 New emerging societies may also give rise to high levels of corruption.
 Emerging from poverty or relative deprivation, the opportunities to make a
lot of money through corrupt practices has plagued many governments around
the world. It seems the temptations are just too great to resist!
Social level of morality

 It seems that different communities have different levels of morality.

 While certain societies may foster a strong sense of right and wrong, the
attitude in others is quite different.
 Not everyone shares the view that murder and theft are wrong. Different
cultures seems to view a variety of crimes differently.
Social tolerance of crime

 The social tolerance of crime could be a factor that influences the crime rate.
 In many cultures there is a high level of tolerance people do not act as tale-
bearers against others.
 In other societies, the slightest transgression is reported by a neighbour.
Where there is a strong organised crime syndicate in existence, there may be
fear of revenges. Victims and others are afraid to speak out for fear of
revenges.
A criminal class

 In some communities there is a criminal class in addition to the working class

and middle class.
 The children are born into a life of crime and become quite skilled at their
selected profession.
 Some become pick-pockets, others bank robbers.
 More often than not, time spent in jail is the equivalent of a criminal
university where skills are learnt and practised.
Level of law enforcement

 A strong police force coupled with high sentences for convictions may help to
reduce the crime rate. An on-going debate about the effectiveness of the
death penalty has revolved around the idea that a strong deterrent will
reduce crime, though there is little evidence to support this.
 Perhaps the greatest influence in the level of crime lies in the perceived
honesty of the leadership of a country.
 Where government and business are perceived to be corrupt and dishonest,
there is little prospect of reducing the overall levels of crime. Perhaps this
would change when the leadership provides a high level of integrity and
honesty.
High Population/Population Density

 According to the FBI’s report, areas with high populations as well as those
with dense populations often have a higher rate of crime.
 These crimes tend to be residential in nature: burglaries, car theft, and
domestic assaults.
Commercial/Business Districts

 Areas with high commercial populations (business districts) usually have more
crime.
 Offenses in these areas tend to be “business” crimes including commercial
burglaries, forgery, burglary and shoplifting.
 In addition, there are more crimes committed against people in these areas,
such as muggings, theft of bikes, cars and personal objects in cars.
Economic Conditions

 According to a 2002 study conducted by Bruce Weinburg at Ohio State

University, a poor economy has an immense impact on crime rates.
 Crime increases with declining wages because the payoff for criminal activity
is greater. The study was published in The Review of Economics and Statistics.
Climate

 It has been long theorized that rainy weather tends to aggravate the
occurrence of violent crimes.
Distressed Neighbourhoods
 Neighbourhood's that are run-down and generally in a state of disorder tend
to have more crime than orderly neighbourhoods. In 1982, social scientists
George L. Kelling (of Rutgers University) and James Q. Wilson (of Harvard
University), came up with a hypothesis to explain this phenomena: the
"broken windows” theory.
 According to this theory, when one broken window of a building remains
broken, eventually all other windows of the building will become broken. The
first broken window signals to the citizenry that no one cares about it, nor
any of the windows.
 The remaining unbroken windows become targets of petty criminal activity,
which then spreads in various ways throughout an apathetic neighbourhood.
Factors that increase the chances of youths being
involved in crime
 There are some risk factors that increase the chances of younger people committing
crimes. These are:
 Peer group pressure
 Peer involvement in problem behaviour
 High proportion of unsupervised time with peers
 Parental criminality
 Poor parental discipline and supervision
 Low family income
 Social isolation
 Isolation
 Family conflict
 Drug or alcohol misuse
 Mental illness
 Troubled home life
Factors that increase the chances of youths being involved in crime

 Poor educational attainment

 Lack of skills
 unemployment
 Non-attendance
 Disruptive behaviour such as aggression, hyperactive, bullying
 School disorganisation
 School exclusion
 Deprivation such as poor housing, homelessness
 Lack of social commitment
 Early involvement in problem behaviour
 Community disorganisation
 Opportunity for crime
 Availability of drugs
 High percentage of children in the community.