Alejandro Perez Hernandez 

SOC 305 Cybercrime: a Sociological Perspective 

Omar C. Bourouh

11/25/2022

Disinhibition Theory

As we know, cybercriminology is a multidisciplinary area of study made up of

areas such as sociology, psychology, computing, cybersecurity, etc., to have a broad

understanding of the different factors that motivate cybercriminals. In addition, this area

integrates a series of theories that propose an understanding of the behavior of Internet

users. In this paper, I will try to explain the theory of Disinhibition, which focuses on the

effects of anonymity online.

To begin, we have to define the concept of anonymity online, which according to

chapter ten, is when " individuals can develop their identities and behaviors free from

social sanctions derived in the conventional offline world—as they can explore and

interact online using screen names"(). Having defined this concept, we can now talk

about the theory of disinhibition explains how users change their behavior in the

following areas:

Dissociative anonymity is one of the first areas this theory tries to emphasize

since, according to the chapter, it is about "how behavior is compartmentalized so that

an individual can dissociate from their behavior online"(). This is mainly because the

different forums and pages that are provided on the web allow them to browse

anonymously, which in the same way, provides them with a layer of security. They may
feel less vulnerable because of what they can say since their online identity is not

integrated with their offline identity.

https://learning-theories.com/online-disinhibition-effect-suler.html