Name: S.

Anusri (22)
Class: 17S06S
Project Work Evaluation of Material
Title of Material:
Cyber-Crimes against Adolescents: Bridges between a Psychological
and a Design Approach, Chapter 14 of the Handbook of Research on
Digital Crime, Cyberspace Security, and Information Assurance

k of
Research
Crime,
ace
Cybersp
and
on
Informati
e
Author:
Filipa da Silva Pereira, University of Minho, Portugal
Marlene Alexandra Veloso de Matos University of Minho, Portugal
lvaro Miguel do Cu Gramaxo Oliveira Sampaio Polytechnic
Institute of Cvado and Ave, Portugal

Retrieved From:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273123979_CyberCrimes_against_Adolescents_Bridges_between_a_Psychological_and_
a_Design_Approach
Date of Publication:
July, 2014
Publisher:
Information Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global)
Summary of the Material
This chapter provides an in-depth insight into the profiles of cyber
victims and aggressor and highlights the causes of rising online
vulnerability amongst adolescents.
Reliability of the Material
Firstly, the handbook was published in July, 2014 thus, it delivers an
up-to-date evaluation of the present situation and provides statistics
and research findings that can be used effectively to substantiate
the current condition. Comments about adolescent behavior are
highly reliable as they are substantiated with explanations by Kaveri
Subrahmanyam who is from the Department of Child and Family
Studies, California State University and Childrens Digital Media
Centre, University of California. Kaveri Subrahmanyam has also
released articles regarding adolescents online interactions and
hence would be well versed in the field of adolescent conduct
particularly in the cyber sphere.
Secondly, the sentiments of the youth population of Europe has
been corroborated by findings from The EU Kids Online network

(EUKO), a multinational research network in 2013. EUKO found that

about 15 to 20% of online adolescents have reported significant
levels of discomfort and threat regarding their cyber-crime
experience with harassment. Furthermore, in Bossler and Holts
study (2010), online harassment was the second most common form
of victimization experienced by college students. These two pieces
of information, both coming from credible sources highlight the
importance and urgency of cyber security awareness amongst the
youth.
Usefulness of Material

common
types
of
cybercrimes,
data,
epidemiological
victims
and
aggressors
are
studies
approached.
that
identify
The
the
factors
and
vulnerability,
to consolidation
growing
principally
online
in
disadolescents,
are
also
central
explanatory
theories
victimization
for
the
and
online
the
risk
factors
for
perpetration
addressed.
Finally,
online
some
are
cyber-crime
strategies
are
prevention
among
young
people,
seeking
to
the
to
provide
clues
of
recent
digital
design
level.

The author states that on-line victimization is due to the

psychological and developmental characteristics but also due to the
preferences and choices of the activities that adolescents take part
in while they are online. From this, I realized that we cannot simply
generalize all adolescents as vulnerable and prone to cyber-crime
and that the situation varies from adolescent to adolescent. Hence,
our previous idea of having an uniform set of activities during our
carnival for all teens to participate in would be considered
unsuitable and ineffective. The main aim of our carnival, Slam the
Scam: A Cyber Adventure is to extend our support and knowledge
so as to better equip them with the necessary skills to Slam the
Scam on their own. However, not all the teens would need to focus
on the same aspect of cyber security. Therefore, we will be sending
our survey forms with questions that can assess the needs of each
individual along with our carnival registration forms. Through this we
can group adolescents who face the same issues with each other
and they can attend activities that cater to their specific needs
together. They will also be able to learn from their group mates
experiences through the sharing and ice-breaker sessions during the
carnival. One example would be our carnival booth, Slam the Skit
which was developed to cater to those who have struggle with
online shopping scams in the past. Participants have to interact with
live actors acting as either scammers or trust-worthy sellers and are
required to make purchases while avoiding being scammed.
The author also states that adolescents are not only victims of cyber
crime but are also guilty of being involved in cyber crime due to the
timelessness and possibility of anonymity that the cyber space
provides. Therefore, while spreading awareness we also need to
educate the youth on the harmful consequences of being involved in
cyber crime. To do so, we plan to produce a video titled, Its Your
Choice in which former cyber crime offenders share their stories
and the difficulties they have had to face as a result on being a
criminal. By using pathos, we can evoke fear and emotions in the
youths so as to better persuade them to stay away from cyber crime
of any sort.
and choices
developmental
ofand
the
activities
characteristics
that
adolescents
but
also
with
do to
while
the
they
preferences
online.
psychological
victimization
developmental
seems
characteristics
to be
due
not
only
but
also
with
with
to the
they
preferences
areon-line
online.
and
choices
of the
activities
that
adolescents
doare
while

(597 words)