ABSTRACT
In Chapter 2, At the Crossroad: Cyber, Critical and Cultural Criminologies, we position digital criminology as a critical and cultural criminological orientation to crime and justice in a digital age, rather than a specialist area of study within the broader disciplines of critical and cultural criminologies. We argue that digital criminology represents the intersection of critical, cultural and socio-technical theory and research. This chapter begins with a brief overview of cyber criminologies. We then critically reflect on the binary taxonomies inherent in existing cyber research and outline eight central features of digital society: constant connectedness, digital footprints, online echo chambers, spatiality and temporality, visual communication, ‘private’ public spaces, digital social inequalities and participatory media. Contemporary critical criminologies focus on socio-structural explanations of crime and are centrally concerned with collective harm, human rights and social justice. We argue that digital criminology is reflective of a critical criminological approach and sees technology neither as an underlying cause or instrument of harm but rather as embedded in both pre-existing and newly emerging social practices.
