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Abstract

Cybercrime is a far-reaching social phenomenon that impacts millions of people around the globe each year. Therefore, investigating the causes and consequences of cybercrime is paramount for developing prevention strategies and addressing the needs of cybercrime survivors. To date, most of the work in this area has been social or social-psychological in nature. A biosocial model has the potential to fill in knowledge gaps that remain in the study of cybercrime and provide a fruitful framework for approaches that reduce the occurrence of cybercrime and improve outcomes for victims. In this chapter I discuss the role of biosocial criminology in explaining cybercrime and the outcomes that victims of cybercrime face. I will also discuss what a biosocial research program would look like for the study of cybercrime and what it would entail. I finish with recommendations for cybercrime prevention policy and practice.

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Posick, C. (2020). Biosocial Theories. In: Holt, T., Bossler, A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of International Cybercrime and Cyberdeviance. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78440-3_29

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