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Abstract

There has been growing attention to the role of the decision-making process in crime involvement in recent years. However, less is known about the association between the decision-making process and adolescents’ online offending. The present study examined whether thoughtfully reflective decision-making (TRDM) and cyber victimization are related to adolescents’ cybercrime. Data were obtained from self-report questionnaires administered to 510 Israeli adolescents aged 13-20. The results indicate that TRDM is negatively associated with engagement in online offending. Furthermore, cyber victimization is significantly associated with online offending. In addition, a significant predictor of online offending is intense activity on social media. We discuss the findings in the context of existing research and offer practical implications for dealing with adolescents' online delinquency.

Note on the Author(s)

Prof. Revital Sela-Shayovitz is vice-dean for research at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ono Academic College. She also teaches at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Criminology. Her research focuses on youth violent crime, Cyber deviance, and crime and media. Her research has been published in leading journals in Europe and the US, such as the British Journal of Criminology, Journal of Experimental Criminology, Feminist Criminology, Violence against Women, Crime and Media.

Dr. Tamar Bernblum has Tamar has 15 years of experience in researching cybercrime, cyber security, and digitalization from a criminological perspective focusing on the human factor. She served as the research director of The Federmann Cyber Security Research Center– Cyber Law Program at the Hebrew University, and she is affiliated with several universities and research institutes. She is also the co-chair of the European Society of Criminology Working Group on Cybercrime.

Dr. Sharon Toys Sharon Toys is a criminal lawyer (L.L.M) and faculty member at the Department of Criminology, Ashkelon Academic College, Israel.

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