The Dark Visitor

“Electronic Heroin” an analysis of Chinese juvenile cybercrime (Part I)

Second, analysis on the causes of juvenile cybercrime

What are the reasons for juvenile cybercrime?  Adolescents resides in puberty, where large changes take place in both physiology and psychology.  Individual youth are led down the wrong road and step onto the path of criminality due to individual physiology, psychology and different types of conflicts and contradictions  Additionally, in real life there are unhealthy influences and during the socialization process, deviations and distortions easily occur in individual youth.

1. As young people mature, there is a conflict between a sense of isolation and an intense feeling of needing to belong.  On the internet, they find this compensation in the openness, equality and freedom that make a perfect match for their needs.  This makes juveniles the main crowd on the internet.  The virtual nature, openness and freedom of the internet permits unrestricted conversations that cause youth to disseminate obscene materials; their morales and sense of responsibility decay; and their awareness of legality is diluted to the point they don’t feel it is a crime.  It becomes so serious that they will even break the law.
2. The current internet legal system is not robust, allowing cybercriminals to act without legal restrictions.  Although the country has laid out a series of laws and regulations regarding internet security and punishments for computer crimes, such as the “People’s Republic of China Computer Information Systems Security and Safeguards Regulation,” the current laws are unable to adapt to the current situation of  computer development.  This is especially true for new internet problems that arise that the law is unable to restrict.  This brings about a legal gap.
3. The unhealthy content on the internet has caused juvenile criminals to bury (hide) hidden dangers.  The internet is full of pornography, reactionary (material) and violent information; as well as traps.  Understaffed chatroom supervision allows juvenile cybercriminals to bury (hide) inducements.  Some managers of underground internet cafes are the ringleaders who entice youth into criminal activity.  Some internet cafe managers are only concerned with profit, regardless of the harm the unhealthy information does to the youth, or the youth browsing all manner of pornography, reactionary (material), or violent websites.  Some go far as to supply them with these materials.  At the same time, bloody and violent internet games are the hotbed for juvenile cybercrime.  Research indicated that long-term playing of bloody and violent online games which can cause the user to develop an aggressive personality that leads to criminal activity.
4. Factors in society, school and the family are also causes of juvenile cybercrime.  Some morally corrupt individuals online recklessly spread pornographic and violent images, as well as popular online games that cause segments of the youth to become infatuated with them.  They are unable to pay the  online game fees so they take risks.  The school’s education on ethics and online morality is insufficient.  The negative evaluation of weak students, the dislike and discrimination against students with bad behavior causes some students to give up on themselves.  They become infatuated with the internet and look there to find self confidence and happiness.  Furthermore, the education at home is inappropriate, with parents not strictly supervising there children online.  Some parent’s unhealthy personal habits also influence their children.

This is a long article and will need to be done in at least two parts (three?), along with a lot of gisting. It came out yesterday on Chinacourt.org and provides an in-depth look at the drivers pushing juvenile cybercrime in China:

Analysis: Juvenile Cybercrime Causes and Prevention

In the past few years, following the rapid expansion of the internet in our country (China), the internet has become a daily part of many people’s lives and an intrical component. According to statistics, in 2007, the number of online users in our country (China) reached 162 million people with juvenile users accounting for 85.8% of that figure. Furthermore, among the country’s juvenile users, 13.2% have become addicts and another 13% manifest internet addiction tendencies. The highest proportion of internet addiction occurs in 17.1% of juvenile users from the ages of 13 to 17. While the internet has the prospect of bringing happiness and creating large amounts of wealth, it also introduces enticements and sin. According to statistical data, 90% of juveniles go online to play games, while the rest use it to chat or browse unhealthy websites. Browsing unhealthy websites and playing online games is either the direct or indirect cause of juvenile crime. This article, will analyze the manifestation of juvenile cybercrime, exploring all of the causes that entice it, in order to have a beneficial discussion on countermeasures to prevent juvenile cybercrime. First, the manifestation and characteristics of juvenile cybercrime: Following the application and development of computer network technology, the youth have clearly become the majority of internet users and cybercrime has become a new phenomenon of juvenile criminals. Due to the psychological immaturity of youth, they unhesitatingly throw themselves into the internet, becoming excessively dependent and turn into “electronic heroin junkies.” Not only has the internet taken away their thirst for knowledge and kindheartedness, it has also robbed them of their precious youth. From investigations into cybercriime cases over the last couple of years, Chinese juvenile cybercrime manifests itself in these forms:

1. The internet is used to carry out traditional types of crime such as theft, ransom, injury, fraud, robbery…etc. The virtual nature of the internet provides an artificial space and convenient channel for juvenile to carry out crimes. They can very easily hide their true identity, address…etc, to carry out criminal activity.

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