Opportunities for Workplace Deviance
Integration of computers into daily business operations create new opportunities for deviance because it allows people to make quick and vast changes to information without having others find any detection of who it could be. Having this remote access allows for protection that used to never be able to occur. An example where an employee might use their access to commit a deviant act could be if someone were to work on the technology and IT side of a business. If they were working there to gain all of the knowledge into passwords and codes needed for important information within the company they could then use their access to gain and sell this data and security online to receive massive amounts of compensation for it. The perceived anonymity of digital actions change the cost benefit analysis for an employee considering workplace deviance compared to a physical crime because it can cause a detachment from the emotions of acting out in a deviant manner. Normally if someone were to commit a physical crime they would feel remorse and guilt because it is a physical action and can click on those emotions. Now when someone commits and online crime it can occur that they do not feel as bad for the action and do not see it as such a serious action that can cause harm. When someone is hiding behind many layers of technology and minimal detection they can feel as though they may not get caught and may not be as “bad” or harmful.