Towards a functional fear of online crime among children

• In Event: Technology, Cybercrime and Fear of Crime

Abstract

We know from offline fear of crime research, that parents provide their children with important crime knowledge and a repertoire how to protect oneself against victimization (Rader, 2023). People come to understand crime risks, and where, when, and how to evade the risks of crime victimization in the offline world by exchanging information about unsafe places and times (Spithoven, 2017). This knowledge is projected on so called ‘mental maps’, which contain detailed cues that individuals can scan their immediate surroundings for in combination with an action tendency (Gabriel & Greve, 2003). Being socialized into fearing (particular types of) crime can have unwanted outcomes such as crime myths (Rader, 2023) but may also help to keep individuals aware and resilient (Spithoven, 2017). This is where the fear of crime literature distinguishes ‘dysfunctional fear of crime’ from ‘functional fear of crime’ (Jackson & Gray, 2010).
Being digital immigrants (Rothrock, 2018), parents may never have been in the online environments their children use on a daily basis and therefore lack adequate estimations of the risks their children face online, so children might well be missing crucial information as well as parents being open to crime myths about online offenders. In this theoretical paper we will argue that it is necessary to explore how to provide parents with an adequate and balanced image of contemporary online crime risks and ways to prevent victimization of cybercrime for their children. We conclude our paper with an outline of (both fundamental and applied) possibilities for future research.

Authors

• Remco Spithoven, Saxion University of Applied Sciences

• Nicole Rader, Mississippi State University