Chapter 6: Modus Operandi, Motive, and Technology

Overview

Brent E. Turvey

"All our lauded technological progress - our very civilization - is like the axe in the hand of the pathological criminal."

(Albert Einstein)

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the development of computer and Internet technologies as they relate to both offender modus operandi and offender motive. That is to say, their impact on how and why criminals commit crimes. The context of this effort is informed by a historical perspective, and by examples of how computer and Internet technologies may and have influenced criminal behavior. It is hoped through this brief rendering that readers may come to appreciate that while technology and tools change, as does their language, the underlying psychological needs, or motives, for criminal behavior remain historically unchanged.