Research project Bridging the Gap: Understanding and Evolving Criminological Theories of Cybercrime
How can we understand why individuals become involved in cybercrime and how their criminal behaviour is shaped by digital environments? This project examines cybercrime from a criminological perspective, focusing on individuals, motivations, and learning processes, while exploring how established criminological theories can be developed to better explain different forms of cybercrime.
Digital technologies have created new opportunities for crime and transformed how traditional offences can be committed. At the same time, cybercrime raises questions about the extent to which established criminological theories can explain criminal behaviour in digital environments.
This project examines who engages in cybercrime, what motivates them, and how they develop the knowledge and skills used for criminal purposes. Particular attention is given to comparing cyber-dependent offences, such as hacking, with cyber-enabled offences, such as online fraud, to identify similarities and differences in these processes.
Combining qualitative and quantitative methods, the research examines different digital environments. The overarching aim is to contribute to a deeper understanding of cybercrime by examining, testing, and further developing criminological theories in light of the opportunities and challenges presented by digital environments.