Theories Of Digital Crime

“Criminality is not a function of a biological malady or a function of the social structure, but learning.” (Taylor, Fritsch, & Liederbach). Digital crime uses the internet to commit or assist in a crime. My paper will examine two theories that is the possible causes of computer crimes, and how they relate to crime in general.

When a person chooses to commit a crime, their main goal is what benefit will the crime be to them? Will they get caught? All types of questions may go through their head. However, in most instances, some people do not weigh their options. They know that if they commit a crime; they will go to jail. Saying that, the choice theory is the first explanation as to why one may commit digital crime. This theory states that, “the individual makes a rational choice to commit a crime, and if the good outweigh the bad, most likely they will not commit the crime.” (Taylor, Fritsch, & Liederbach). If the crime that criminals committed online was followed by a definite punishment, most likely it will be a deterrent from a crime, and at that point the choice …show more content…
I would consider the individuals assuming they won`t get caught. When people tend to do the one thing and don`t get caught they get a sense of relief and become greedy, in some cases when there are no consequences to the crime that has been committed. For example, when people are using the Internet to steal money from others using the Internet, and once they are successful the first time they will go back and try to steal more money because they were able to get away with it before. Another theory, that could explain why people commit crime is they simply enjoy the thrill of being able to hurt someone. For instance, you have some people who commit a crime via the Internet and they are vindictive and they are only doing it to feel better about themselves or feel a sense of