Open AccessUNDERSTANDING CYBERCRIME AND YOUTH: A PERCEPTION BASED APPROACH
Author(s) -
Faiz Ullah,
AUTHOR_ID,
Ahmad Ali,
Zahid Umar,
AUTHOR_ID,
AUTHOR_ID
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
pakistan journal of social research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2710-3137
pISSN - 2710-3129
DOI - 10.52567/pjsr.v3i3.233
Subject(s) - cybercrime , the internet , hacker , government (linguistics) , nonprobability sampling , social media , internet privacy , criminology , psychology , public relations , computer security , political science , sociology , computer science , law , world wide web , population , linguistics , philosophy , demography
In recent years, the issue of cybercrime has overwhelmed everyone who is related to the internet in any capacity. Recent studies have shown that the incidents of cybercrime vastly involve youngsters, which has serious consequences for them as victims and as cyber offenders. The existing body of knowledge related to cybercrime focus upon various issues of internet in general and social media in particular. However, a thorough approach on the issues of cybercrime with relevance to youth is missing. Therefore, this study tries to fill this gap by offering youth and victim-based approach on the issues pertaining to cybercrime. For attaining this purpose, qualitative research approach was adopted in conducting this research project. Semi structured interviews were conducted with 40 young victims of cybercrime. The respondents were recruited through purposive sampling from district Peshawar of 18 to 25 years of age. Furthermore, the respondents were recruited from three clusters of district Peshawar namely Gul Bahar, Hayat Abad, and University town. Various dimensions of cybercrime and involvement of youth as victims and as criminals were explored. It can be concluded that the youth mostly experience cybercrime in the form of cyber bullying, blackmailing and hacking. Further, the findings suggest that many youngsters make their choices on social media and internet without being aware of cybercrimes and thus succumbed to cyber criminals. The participants also reiterated that lack of proper restrictions and policing have created a crime friendly zone for cyber criminals. Based on the findings and participant views, it is recommended that the government, relevant bodies, institutions, and all stake holders including youth should come forward and help in developing a research and technology driven policy backed by separate cybercrime policing system. Key Words: Cyber space, Cybercrime, Victimization, Cybercriminal, Youth