Employment Opportunities for Applicants with Cybercrime Records: A Field Experiment

Various studies have shown that convicted offenders often face difficulties in finding employment. These studies, however, only examined traditional types of crime and little is known about the job opportunities of convicted cybercrime offenders. Therefore, this study examines the influences of being convicted for a cybercrime on labour market chances in the IT sector in the Netherlands. An experiment was conducted in which fictitious job applications were sent to existing job openings between March and June 2021 (N = 300), varying for type of crime (cybercrime, property crime, no offence) and ethnic background (Dutch or Turkish). In order to test the hypotheses, logistic regression analyses were carried out to test whether differences in responses were significant. No significant differences in positive responses were found between cybercrime offenders and non-offenders, implying that cybercrime offenders do not have less labour market opportunities. Moreover, significant differences were found between Dutch and Turkish applicants. The results of this study indicate that results from previous studies on job opportunities of traditional offenders are not generalisable to cybercrime offenders. Possibly, a cybercrime record gives a positive signal of IT-skills that are useful for employees, while a criminal record for a property crime is associated with negative characteristics

Determinants of reporting cybercrime: A comparison between identity theft, consumer fraud, and hacking

Although the prevalence of cybercrime has increased rapidly, most victims do not report these offenses to the police. This is the first study that compares associations between victim characteristics and crime reporting behavior for traditional crimes versus cybercrimes. Data from four waves of a Dutch cross-sectional population survey are used (N = 97,186 victims). Results show that cybercrimes are among the least reported types of crime. Moreover, the determinants of crime reporting differ between traditional crimes and cybercrimes, between different types of cybercrime (that is, identity theft, consumer fraud, hacking), and between reporting cybercrimes to the police and to other organizations. Implications for future research and practice are discussed

Cybercrime Reporting Behaviors Among Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Netherlands

Despite the high prevalence of cybercrime victimization among businesses, only few of these crimes are reported to the police. This study used a sample of 529 Dutch small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners, to examine which characteristics of the offence, the SME, and the SME owner predict cybercrime reporting behaviors. Moreover, the motives to either report cybercrime victimization to the police or not were examined. All respondents were shown three vignettes about fictional cybercrime incidents and were asked how they would react in this situation. Next, they were also asked about their reporting behaviors after actual cybercrime victimization. The large majority of SME owners said that they would report the incidents from the vignettes to the police, but after actual victimization only 14.1% of the cybercrimes was reported to the police. Seriousness and type of offense were the best predictors for cybercrime reporting, with cyber-enabled crimes being more often reported to the police than cyber-dependent crimes. Characteristics of the SME and the SME owner were often not related to reporting behaviors. Victims report cybercrime to the police because they want the perpetrator to be caught and to prevent him from doing the same to others, and they do not report cybercrimes because they think the police will not do anything and rather solve it themselves. When victims did report their victimization to the police, they were often unsatisfied because the police were indifferent and because the problems were not solved. Implications of these results for practice and future research are discussed

How unique are terrorist suspects? Investigating similarities and differences between terrorist suspects, their siblings, and other suspects

This article contributes to the debate in terrorism research on how unique terrorist suspects (i.e. individuals suspected of crimes with terrorist intent) actually are and whether or not specific theories are necessary to explain their behavior. Our study compares terrorist suspects from the Netherlands with their siblings and nonterrorist suspects to find out whether and how terrorist suspects are unique. Inspired by criminological theories involving social bonds, regression analyses were conducted utilizing registry data on household compositions, socio-economic status (SES), and criminal histories. A key finding is that terrorist suspects seem to have more in common with other suspects than with their siblings; besides prior criminal involvement, no significant differences were found between terrorist suspects and other suspects. Terrorist suspects were significantly less often married, had a lower SES, and were more often previously suspected of crimes as compared to their siblings. Particularly, lacking employment is a differentiating factor for terrorist suspects and siblings. Our findings stress the necessity to investigate in-depth under what circumstances and how a disadvantaged background (e.g. lack of social bonds, criminal history) can lead to becoming a terrorist suspect

Violent and Nonviolent Terrorist Suspects: a Comparative Analysis Based on Data from the Netherlands

Abstract: What are similarities and differences between violent and nonviolent terrorist suspects? Our study aims to answer this question by comparing violent terrorist suspects (VTS) (n = 57) to nonviolent terrorist suspects (NVTS) (n = 292) in the Netherlands. Guided by social control theories and using register data from the Dutch Public Prosecution Service, Statistics Netherlands, and the Research and Documentation Centre of the Ministry of Justice and Security, we investigated the 2 years leading up to the terrorist suspicion by examining demographic characteristics, household composition, socioeconomic factors, and criminal background. Findings demonstrate more similarities than differences between the groups. Nonetheless, VTS were significantly more often male and had more often a (violent) criminal background. For NVTS, we found possible preventive effects of living with parents and employment. Furthermore, the differences in socioeconomic status (SES) we found urge us to develop a better understanding of the socioeconomic environment VTS and NVTS are part of and whether and how their perception of this environment influences their behavior. Notwithstanding the limitations in our study (e.g., potential police bias in register data, small sample sizes), the analyses provide insight into what factors, and potential underlying mechanisms, need further investigation to understand violent and nonviolent outcomes

Employment Opportunities for Applicants with Cybercrime Records: A Field Experiment

Various studies have shown that convicted offenders often face difficulties in finding employment. These studies, however, only examined traditional types of crime and little is known about the job opportunities of convicted cybercrime offenders. Therefore, this study examines the influences of being convicted for a cybercrime on labour market chances in the IT sector in the Netherlands. An experiment was conducted in which fictitious job applications were sent to existing job openings between March and June 2021 (N = 300), varying for type of crime (cybercrime, property crime, no offence) and ethnic background (Dutch or Turkish). In order to test the hypotheses, logistic regression analyses were carried out to test whether differences in responses were significant. No significant differences in positive responses were found between cybercrime offenders and non-offenders, implying that cybercrime offenders do not have less labour market opportunities. Moreover, significant differences were found between Dutch and Turkish applicants. The results of this study indicate that results from previous studies on job opportunities of traditional offenders are not generalisable to cybercrime offenders. Possibly, a cybercrime record gives a positive signal of IT-skills that are useful for employees, while a criminal record for a property crime is associated with negative characteristics

Continuity of Genetic Risk for Aggressive Behavior Across the Life-Course

We test whether genetic influences that explain individual differences in aggression in early life also explain individual differences across the life-course. In two cohorts from The Netherlands (N = 13,471) and Australia (N = 5628), polygenic scores (PGSs) were computed based on a genome-wide meta-analysis of childhood/adolescence aggression. In a novel analytic approach, we ran a mixed effects model for each age (Netherlands: 12–70 years, Australia: 16–73 years), with observations at the focus age weighted as 1, and decaying weights for ages further away. We call this approach a ‘rolling weights’ model. In The Netherlands, the estimated effect of the PGS was relatively similar from age 12 to age 41, and decreased from age 41–70. In Australia, there was a peak in the effect of the PGS around age 40 years. These results are a first indication from a molecular genetics perspective that genetic influences on aggressive behavior that are expressed in childhood continue to play a role later in life