Compuer Offences Among Univerctty Students: An Empirical Test Of Akers' Social Learning Theory
Volume 15, Issue 2, Summer 2013, Pages 24-56
Akbar Aliverdinia, Azam Malekdar, Mohammadreza Hasani
Abstract With the increase of computer-related deviant behaviors and formation of new crime, individuals and society have come across many threats. The current study tries to explain computer related offences among students of Mazandaran University, with the use of Akers' Social Learning Theory. Having done a survey, we distributed a questionnaire between 403 students whom had been selected by the use of proportional stratified sampling. The population was the whole students of the University in 2012-2013. Computer Offences variable consists of three dimensions: ‘against data & system’, ‘identity theft’ and ‘cultural’. Independent variables consists of differential association, differential reinforcement, definitions and imitation and their effects on computer offences are examined. Data is analyzed by “lisrel” and “Spss” software. The findings of SEM demonstrate that the relationships between differential association and differential reinforcement and computer-related offences are significant. The differential association, however, has the strongest effect on it (Beta= 0/41).