Digital Crime Theories, Research Paper Example

Explanation of crime including digital crime has involved application of theories that have been proposed in the course of the last 100 years (Robert, Taylor, Eric & John, 2015).  The basic premise behind such theories is to give reasons as to why people are involved in digital crimes.

The choice theory is one of such theories and it attributes commission of a crime to a rational choice that is made by the individual as a result of evaluating the risks, such as punishment and apprehension, against the benefits that are associated with commission (Robert, Taylor, Eric & John, 2015). In case the risk is perceived to outweigh anticipated benefits, the individual continues to execute the crime and the converse is applicable. The suggestions postulated by the choice theory are that focus should be directed to the offence and not the offender because it is attributed to a rational choice. Consequently, the best approach of crime control in this regard is to make the offenders become fearful to the punishments and elevate the risks associated with the crime more than the benefits that are anticipated from such crimes. A good example is restriction of pornography to school children by being punished by their parents and teachers.

Deterrence theory also plays a crucial role in the explanation of digital crime and it is closely linked to the choice theory. The basic assumption the motivation of engagement in the offence is attributed to the difference in weight between risks and benefits. In the situation that the risk has more weight than the benefit, the offender chooses to refrain from the offense. In this case, the risk of apprehension and punishment serves as a deterrent to the commission of the offense. Deterrence according to the deterrence theory is manifested in two types (Thomas, 2002). The first one involves the general deterrence that posits to discourage people intending to engage in such crimes due to the threat associated with the punishment. This therefore applies to potential offenders but they are distracted from the crime as a result of the sanctions that are associated with the crime. People who have engaged in such crimes in the past are punished to serve as examples to potential offenders. The specific type of deterrence is applicable to a criminal who has already committed the crime such that, the crime cannot continue in the future. A good example in this case is people who are engaged in hacking other people account using the internet are punished by severe jail terms (Holt, 2007).

The labeling theory is equally effective in the explanation of the cause of digital-crime and non-digital crime. According to the labeling theory, the people who have been positioned in power have the privileges of deciding what particular acts warrant to be labeled as a crime. The actual practice of labeling an individual as a criminal is what constitutes the criminal. At the instance that an individual has been labeled as a criminal by the society, all opportunities that are associated with that person are taken away and this may set a pace for continued criminal acts. The assumptions in the labeling theory are that, no single behavior is associated with inherent deviance independently but the reaction that is associated with such a behavior determines whether it is deviant or otherwise. The labeling theory contributes to an explanation of a behavior considered to be negatively deviant in the context of selected individuals but constructively deviant as far as others are concerned.

References

Holt , T.J. (2007). “Subcultural Evolution? Examining the Influence of On- and Off-Line Experiences on Deviant Subcultures.” Deviant Behavior 28(2): 171–198.

Robert, W., Taylor, Eric J. F. & John L., (2015). Digital Crime and Digital Terrorism 3^rd Edition, by Published by Prentice Hall

Thomas, D. (2002). Hacker Culture. Minneapolis.MN: University of Minnesota Press.