Preliminary Findings of a Systematic Review on Social Cybercrimes Around Videogames

• In Event: Digitalization of Life and New Forms of Harm: Victimization & Harmful Behavior in the Cyberspace

Abstract

Multiplayer video games constitute different places in a broad cyberspace enabling distinct forms of interaction and experiences. Criminological research on video games is scarce, mostly limited to the pro social or anti-social consequences of exposure to this media. Nonetheless, the dynamics of interaction in video games have been extensively studied across various academic disciplines, between them, Sociology, Psychology and Law.
In this sense, academia refers to the term 'toxicity' to describe a wide range of harms affecting these interactions. Apparently, toxicity covers disruptive behaviors of a very different nature; from actions that hinder the normal progression of the game (such as cheating or leaving the game) to more harmful behaviors (such as insults or hate speech).
This contribution presents the findings of a systematic review on social cybercrimes in digital communities associated with video games. The systematic review, following the PRISMA-P model, will analyse contributions on Web of Science, Scopus and the AMC Digital Library: the AMC Guide to Computing Literature in the last 10 years. It focuses on empirical research that has measured different aspects of social cybercrimes (ranging from users’ strategies to prevent them, effects, causes and prevalence), and the definition of the chosen dependent variable.

Author

• Mario Santisteban Galarza, UPV / EHU Euskal Herriko Unibertzitatea