Toward a Realist Criminology of Computer Crime
Kevin F. Steinmetz · 2023
With the philosophical matters handled, this chapter considers five challenges confronting the development of a realist criminology of the internet. First, what are the kinds of harms of concern for the perspective? Second, how do we address the problem of space and place in the context of computer crimes and the internet? The third challenge concerns the related problem of community or, specifically, the tracing of the “social relations of crime” online. For the fourth challenge, we turn once again to the problem of class—should a realist criminology of the internet center its sights on class? Finally, this chapter revisits the tension between “reform” and “revolution” given the importance of policy and other solutions for realist criminology. The answers to these questions are important to establish a criminology dedicated to generating theoretically and empirically sound explanations of the crimes and harms in question while developing means of harm reduction.