ATIKA BINTI ISHAK 1015168 LE 4000 SECTION 16

SOCIAL NETWORKS AS THE MEANS TO CREATE CRIMINALS

Literature Review
Internet gives us the amazing way through social networking site to socialize with others
and use them to fulfill our needs and desires. Through social networking site, we can create our
online identity and used it as the means for socialization, education information access,
entertainment, shopping, and communication. However, despite the positive aspects, social
networking site is also functioned as the means to create criminals. It is important to note that
social networking is on a high and these sites have creates new environment and opportunities
for humans to explore their negative and violent side.
Humans behave in certain ways because of their social learning experiences. Various
theories of human developmental show that there are many factors that influences human
behavior. Boyd and Bee (2012) mentions the main ideas of Freud’s psychosexual theory. Freud
proposed that developmental change happens because of the influence of internal drives and
emotions on behavior. There are three parts of personality. The id in Freud’s theory is the part of
the personality that comprises a person’s basic sexual and aggressive impulses. It contains the
libido and motivates a person to seek pleasure and avoid pain. While ego according to Freud is
the thinking element of personality and superego is the part of personality that is the moral judge
(p.24).
Today, social networking site is one of the social environments in our life. Computer
access and use among people have grown exponentially over the past decade. From children and
adults, everyone can get access to internet. Natalie (2006) claim that more than 80% of American
youth, ages 12 to 17, use the Internet, and nearly half log on daily. Not only that, according to a
survey performed by the London School of Economics (2002), 90% children between ages 8 and
16 have viewed pornography on the Internet. Many adolescents reportedly prefer being online to
other media, including the telephone, TV, and radio. Given that so many adolescents are
spending so much time on the Internet (Natalie, 2006).
According to Winder (2008), adolescence is a critical period in one’s life. It is the
transitional period between childhood and adulthood. Teenagers can experiment with multiple
personalities because this is the time when they try to build their own identity. Social networks
teach people to build their online identity in virtual world. In virtual world, everyone is free and
it encourages them to become a liar or whatever they want. He also mentioned that virtual world
is very distinct from the real world. Winder (2008) claims that, “My online identity allowed me
to explore more boundaries and test what I could and couldn’t do in social situations” (p.18).
On the other hand, all of this contributed to crime development. A lot of criminals have
been born through social networking sites. Most people described criminals as evil, animals or
monsters among the member of society. Ainsworth (2001) emphasized two main theories of
criminology which are offender profiling and crime analysis. Offender profiling is a method of
identifying the perpetrator of a crime based on an analysis of the nature of the offence and the
manner in which it was committed. Offender profiling also tried to understand patterns in
criminal activity and crime analysis can be analyzed through some theories like nature-nurture
that may explain criminal behavior. Various aspects of criminal’s personality also can be
determined by their motivation before, during, and after the crime. This information is combined
with other relevant details and physical evidence, and then compared with the characteristics of
known personality types and mental abnormalities to develop a better understanding of criminals
behavior.
To sum up, humans behavior are complex. They behave in certain ways according to
their internal and external drives. Social networking site as the new environment also influenced
human developmental in many ways. The access, freedom and opportunities that one’s receives
through social networking sites can contribute to crime development and these sites have
potential to create criminals.

REFERENCES:

Ainsworth, P.B. 2001, Offender Profiling and Crime Analysis, First Edition, Willan Publishing.

Boyd, D & Bee. H, 2012, Lifespan Development, Sixth Edition, Pearson Longman.

Cohen, A, (July 2006). Do You Know Where Your Kids Clicking? PC Magazine, 90-96.

Natalie L. (2006). Adolescents and the Internet. Journal of Cornell University.

Winder. D. 2008, Being Virtual, First Edition, Dana Centre.