Deterrence Theory

The Deterrence Theory Deterrence of a crime is based on choice theory, which is the assumption that a person is making a conscious decision to commit a criminal act. Since the person is making a conscious effort to commit the crime, deterrence is meant to reflect the punishment for the crime based on that decision. In computer crime, since most computer users are aware of what constitutes as an illegal act (e.g. downloading music without paying for it), the assumption is that most people know when they are committing the crime. The reasons why deterrence may or may not be effective, the punishments used, and the key concepts of deterrence are the topic being discussed today. Key concepts of deterrence are general deterrence, specific deterrence, incapacitation, and retribution theory. (Keel, 2005) General deterrence involves making laws to prevent future crimes from happening. The idea behind
It is believed that a person with low self-control is more likely to underestimate the risks of a criminal act and overestimate the benefits. (Hu , Xu, Dinev, & Ling, 2011) Criminals in general tend to believe that they just won’t be caught, and they’ll be able to run or get out scot-free. With computer crime, it is easy to forget that there are ways for tracing the crime back to the person who did it. This is also a common occurrence with most non-electronic crimes as well, such as murder or burglary. For some reason, they believe that there will be no evidence leading back to the burglar/murderer, to a point where some people have left their wallet at a crime scene. Since there appears to be a lesser presence of an authority online, I believe more people are apt to think they are exempt from laws. Every once in a while you hear about someone who actually went to jail for pirating movies or music, but out of the thousands of people who participate in the illegal activity, it seems like a victimless