Social Networking as a Criminal Enterprise

As social networking continues to evolve and expand, the opportunities for deviant and criminal behavior have multiplied. With contributions from experts in the field of cybercriminality, this book explores the emergence of social networking and how it has led to new forms of criminality. Supplying relevant statistics and legislative histories, it discusses the types of crimes committed and how the system is handling these offenders. The book presents discussion questions at the end of each chapter to encourage critical thinking and includes case studies to clarify content.

As social networking continues to evolve and expand, the opportunities for deviant and criminal behavior have multiplied. Social Networking as a Criminal Enterprise explores how new avenues for social networking criminality have affected our criminal justice system.

With insight from field experts, this book examines:

• The history of social networking and the process of developing an online identity
• Schools of criminological theory and how they relate to criminality on social networking websites
• Forms of criminal behavior that can be performed utilizing social networking websites
• Criminality via texting, identity theft, and hacking
• Adolescents as offenders and victims in cyberbullying and digital piracy
• Online sexual victimization, including child pornography and sexual solicitation of youth

The book concludes by discussing law enforcement’s response, including new techniques and training, type of evidence, and use of experts. It also discusses how the corrections system has been affected by these types of offenders.

Discussion questions at the end of each chapter encourage critical thinking and case studies help place the material in context. Ideal for students and scholars, the book offers a comprehensive examination of how the emergence of social networking has affected criminality online, and how it has impacted the criminal justice system.