Essay Sample on Digital Revolution: Impact on Society's Infrastructure and Crime Rates

Introduction

The use of information technology, the internet, and mobile applications are currently embedded in the structures of society. In most developed countries, above half of the population have access to the internet and growing numbers in the developing countries. On average, about 40% of the world population has an ace on the internet. This has fostered an effective and efficient development of the societal infrastructure. However, it has also increased the rate of crime and deviant activities. Such include theft, harassment, and fraud, which take on information technologies and cyberspace.

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Crime began to take a new toll in various places with the advancement of technology. The internet has increased the number of sins, both those being done physically and online. Some include cybercrime in which security information is traded against the owners. Such crimes include hacking of system, cracking and defacing of websites for the benefit of the criminals (Holt et al., 2016). All thee common cybercrimes enable the criminals to gain access to unauthorized computers, networks, and websites and manipulate for their excellent. This ends up damaging the original user of the sites and the machines.

There has been a rise in deviant cyber activities through various avenues on the internet, including social media and other platforms such as movies and television programs. This perceived perverse behavior may be sent via emails, chat room conversations, and even in the newspapers, among other print media. There are two most common computer crimes which target users of the internet. The first computer crime is cyberstalking and cyber harassment. People study age, gender, sexual preferences and location of user in the internet through the cybercrimes and use this information against the individuals. One of the avenue include chat room which give various topic. People often use nicknames so that they are not identified. They may send abusive or nude messages and pictures against individuals to harass them. What makes it difficult is the fact that this individual may be within our vicinity.

According to Stalans, 2016, crime and deviance are facilitated by the internet by providing accessibility and visibility to alternative justification and normative views on cybercrime forms. The fact that there is not one government that controls what is deviant and what is rightful facilitates thee cybercrimes and abnormal behavior further. There are no standard metrics to define what is right and what is terrible, leaving the definition to the internet user. Some action is accepted in some countries while denied in others. This gives the wen users the freedom to choose the jurisdiction in which their website will work, based on the more lenient rule.

Crime and deviant behavior are also encouraged by the ability of users to maintain anonymity or false identities (Wall, 2017). They may use application avatar, deep web, and disposable devices that would make their identity not know. This conceals criminal transactions, the network of people dealing in illicit drugs, prostitution, and child pornography. The virtual places also provide platforms for inciting terrorism, engagement in harmful health risks, and espionage. The sites also enable the criminals to provide information to other users on how to escape the law and how to facilitate criminal activities at a different level. The biggest challenge is the fact that it reaches to several users around the globe, making it viral and therefore difficult for the government to control. These items would stay on the internet even if the individual is caught and arrested. The presence of information technology and cyberspace, which have been connected to cars, home security, phone, home temperature control, and other devices, increases the potential for serious harmful effects on crime and deviance.

The massive influence of crime and deviance on the internet has birthed cybercriminals. This is an interdisciplinary field that brings together sociology, criminology, computer science psychology in trying to understand cybercrime and deviance (Downes, Rock, & McLaughlin, 2016). The field studies the criminal activities and what might be causing them. It involves rooting it from the individuals in a bid to identify hat exactly could be the problem with individuals. The field also studies the variance of the behavior that is portrayed online with the actual act of the person in the ground. They attempt to identify what stimulates people to engage in some of the activities like deviant behavior. This would help in tracking down the crime and also reducing it since there is an understanding of what is causing it.

There are several potentials threats that cybercrime and e-crime pose on society. The first is that it ow the vulnerability that the digital age is exposed to and the possible consequences which may be disastrous, especially those which are against the interest of the state. Cyberterrorism for example, can disrupt the economic and environmental stability of a nation. This is because they may attack sites that are meant for socioeconomic activities, national security, and religion. They may disrupt telecommunication, healthcare center, nuclear, and power engineering activities. The cyber-terrorist may attempt to damage extensive data or cause massive destruction, which would be very costly to restore. It has made the work of law enforcement more difficult, especially coupling with the fact that technology is evolving daily.

There are several theories of crime and deviance that have been developed in an attempt to discuss the subject. One of the methods is the sociological theories of deviance, which describe that crime and deviance from a social context and pressures, which are the potential cause of the behavior. It studies the violation of cultural norms in both formal and informal settings. Social strain typology presents Merton's five types of deviances, namely conformity, ritualism, innovation, retreats, and rebellion. Deviance may be as a result of breaking one norm and accepting another, like the seller of illicit drugs in the United States s who reject the usual way of making money, but do not stop others from using the right method. Conflict theories argue that deviant behaviour may be as a result of social, political and economic inequalities (Lumen, 2020). Those who act in abnormal behavior are the groups that are less disadvantaged and, therefore, do so to attain the same levels. The final theory explaining deviance and crime is the labeling theory. Individuals tend to behave in a deviant manner when they are presented with a deviant label. They would behave and acct as the label guides.

Conclusion

In conclusion, crime and deviant behavior in interest is very recent and rising. The threats that their abnormal behavior exposes the future generations are very adverse if not curbed. The theories of deviance and crime explain the possible causes of this behaviour which may lead to the actual activities. It I prudent that cyber criminology is in place to curb these situations and reduce the potential impacts.

References

Downes, D., Rock, P. E., & McLaughlin, E. (2016). Understanding deviance: a guide to the sociology of crime and rule-breaking. Oxford University Press.

Holt, T. J., Bossler, A. M., Malinski, R., & May, D. C. (2016). Identifying predictors of unwanted online sexual conversations among youth using low self-control and routine activity framework. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 32(2), 108-128.

Lumen. (2020). Theories of Crime and Deviance. Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-sociology/chapter/theories-of-crime-and-deviance/

Stalans, L. (2016). Understanding How the Internet Facilitates Crime and Deviance. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2016.1211404Wall, D. (Ed.). (2017). Crime and deviance in cyberspace. Routledge.