The General Theory of Crime and Computer Hacking: Low Self-Control Hackers?

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Author(s): Adam M. Bossler (Georgia Southern University, USA)and George W. Burruss (University of Missouri-St. Louis, USA)
Copyright: 2011
Pages: 30
Source title: Corporate Hacking and Technology-Driven Crime: Social Dynamics and Implications
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Thomas J. Holt (Michigan State University, USA)and Bernadette H. Schell (President's Advisor on Cybercrime, University of Ontario, Canada; Vice-Provost at Laurentian University, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-805-6.ch003

Keywords: Digital Crime & Forensics / Information Science Reference / IT Security and Ethics / Security & Forensics

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Abstract

Though in recent years, a number of studies have been completed on hackers’ personality and communication traits by experts in the fields of psychology and criminology, a number of questions regarding this population remain. Does Gottfredson and Hirschi’s concept of low self-control predict the unauthorized access of computer systems? Do computer hackers have low levels of self-control, as has been found for other criminals in mainstream society? If low self-control can predict the commission of computer hacking, this finding would seem to support the generality argument of self-control theory and imply that computer hacking and other forms of cybercrime are substantively similar to terrestrial crime. This chapter focuses on the results of a study where we examined whether Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime is applicable to computer hacking in a college sample.

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