Article Review #1

Jacob Roberts

The first article I will be writing a review on is Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Trends in Cybercrime Research: An Examination. The focus of this article was the examination of almost 600 scholarly journals that focus on cybercrime, and seeing what patterns are exposed, which types of research methods are used, and whether the study of cybercrime is interdisciplinary or not.

Cybercrime is more heavily related to social sciences than one might previously imagine. Even of the internet, it is still human beings who commit the crimes, thus prompting a need for information as to who will most likely commit these crimes and why. After reading this article, it became clear that the sources that were drawn from to write it, include a considerable variety of different methods of research, many of which are prevalent in social science studies. One such method is that of taking surveys, which is commonly used in the social sciences, due to the fact that if research in this field wants to be credible, it needs to get its information from multiple sources on the same topic.  It is possible to create reasonable assumptions based off a smaller sample size in many areas, but with the short amount of time that cybercrime has been around, it is necessary to gather even more information than one might deem necessary. This article is in it of itself one giant survey, wherein it is possible to see which kinds of methods are most popular in terms of gathering information and producing theories or general themes within the field of cybercrime.  

Drawing from not only sources based off surveys, but journals centered on experiments, existing records, legal research, and ethnographies, this article becomes capable of maintaining its objectivity on the subject. By not basing its findings on one specific type of research, it adds to the credibility of the article as a piece of work which only has the intention to inform, not to sway opinions one way or another. One of the more interesting methods of research mentioned in this journal is ethnographies, wherein the researcher themselves enters their field of study to obtain more intimate and real-life knowledge of the subject.  This method of research is especially useful in the attempt to understand the struggles of marginalized communities, as their struggles are often unnoticed by people who do not take the time to ‘sit down at the table’ with them. By entering oneself personally into say, and online forum, of either a marginalized group, or the oppressors themselves, a researcher could much more easily see things that they wouldn’t find in their own personal sphere of life.

Something that I personally appreciated about this article is the ability for someone like myself to grasp this information with ease. I would have simply chalked that up to my vast and unending knowledge, but after realizing I do not possess that I understood that this was the authors intention, to apply the concept of parsimony to this journal. By making this information easy to understand and retain, it allows for the finding within to be spread to people that would generally shy away from such a topic, and thus increasing the number of people who recognize the intricacies and values of the subject.  

Payne, Brian K. and Hadzhidimova, Lora, “Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Trends in Cybercrime Research: An Examination” (2020). Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications. 41.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/sociology_criminaljustice_fac_pubs/41

The second journal I will be writing a review on is Juveniles and Cyber Stalking in the United States: An Analysis of Theoretical Predictors of Patterns of Online Perpetration. This article focuses on cyberstalking behavior for juveniles, such as what kind of people would be the most likely offenders and the reasoning behind that, as well as which groups of people would be more at risk.

              From the beginning, this article immediately establishes a connection to the social sciences. One of social sciences main goals is finding out why people behave the way that they do and there should always be some sort of indication or predictor as to why people act the way that they do, especially online. The research method, a survey, ran out of a high school in North Carolina, is one very commonly used within social science work, as the more information you have from human beings, the more accurately you can draw a conclusion without bias or speculation. Considering that among the youth of the nation, almost all of them have an online presence, and therefore have the capacity to cyberstalk or be cyberstalked, it is important to have a firm grasp on the indicators that one could develop into an offender. One of the biggest common factors for someone that would be more likely to commit a cyberstalking offense is a lack of self-control. This is a very common theme amongst all criminals but shows itself more frequently in the online world due to the ease of use and the anonymity it provides the offender. Another factor that shared between the physical and online world in terms of stalking is that the behavior is very likely a learned though the offender’s life up until that point. The act of cyberstalking is not something that someone wakes up one day and decides that this is what they suddenly feel like doing, the life they have been living has led them to a point where they feel comfortable and confident enough to perform these actions against others.

              Now, when you ask anyone to say that they have been committing, even in an anonymous survey, there is bound to be a lack of complete truth. Even so, the survey was able to make an reliable correlation between the behaviors linked to eventually cyberstalking someone. In terms of this article touching on the challenges of a marginalized group, the focus seems to be upon females and the poor and those two groups are more often the victims of cyberstalking and other forms of cybercrime. The reasoning behind this is simple enough to speculate on, as both groups are more often sexually harassed and bullied due to either their gender or status among their peers. The content of this article is extremely important and valuable to our society as we become more and more based on the internet. Finding out who is more likely to commit these online offenses and protecting the victims as best as possible is key to helping these groups live an online life that is safe and free from harassment and danger.

Marcum, Catherine D, et al. “Juveniles and Cyber Stalking in the United States: An Analysis of Theoretical Predictors of Patterns of Online Perpetration.” International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 2014.