Digital displacement of youth offending: scoping and understanding the issue

Purpose – Global evidence suggests that youth offending has reduced; however, this study aims to suggest a more complex picture, with youth crime potentially being displaced to the digital space. Historically, young people and crime have been synonymous with public spaces and being visible. A shift or expansion to online offending requires revision of how the justice and educational systems respond to youth offending.

Design/methodology/approach – A systematic literature review explored keywords related to age, digital offence or harm and criminal or harmful nature, using a search, appraisal, synthesis and analysis framework.

Findings – Three emergent areas of digital youth crime are discussed: digitally assisted crime, digitally dependent crime and digital harm.

Practical implications – The shift in youth offending requires response adjustment from prevention to detection. Opportunities may exist to disrupt or redirect youth before they offend. Further data specific to digital offending is needed. These findings seek to provide a possible direction for future research.

Originality/value – The concept of digital displacement of youth offending is progressively emerging. This paper examines types of offending categorised into three areas of interest.