Abstract:Qualitative analysis of the psychosociological determinants of the choice of form of delinquency by young people in Côte d'Ivoire: The case of the cybercriminal (brouteur) and the child in conflict with the law (microbe)
Amegnan Lydie Kone§
Saga Bernard Loba
&
Logon Albert Thierry Djako
Abstract: This study analyzes the psychosociological determinants of the choice of delinquency type among children in conflict with the law (microbes) and cybercriminals (grazers). The research is qualitative. We interviewed a microbe and a cybercriminal. These subjects were subjected to a semi-directed interview. Their comments were analyzed using content analysis. The subjects were questioned about their socio-economic background, personality, peer influence or gang membership, drug addiction, use of mystical practices, and offences and crimes committed. The results show that personality is the most important factor in determining whether or not to become involved in delinquency, and which form of delinquency to choose.
Keywords : offender, microbe, cybercriminal.
Abstract: This study analyzes the psychological determinants of the choice of the type of delinquency by children in conflict with the law (microbe) and cybercriminals (grazers). This research is qualitative. We interviewed a microbe and a cybercriminal. These subjects were subjected to a semi-structured interview. Their words are exploited using content analysis. Subjects were interviewed for their socio-economic background, personality, peer influence or gang membership, drug addiction, use of mystical practices, misdemeanors and crimes committed. An examination of the results shows that the personality is the prominent factor, determining the shift into delinquency and the choice of the form of delinquency.
Keywords: Delinquent, Microbe, Cybercriminal.
Introduction
The world is changing. New discoveries are being made in various scientific fields: medicine, information technology, communication, psychology... As in these fields, we are confronted with new types of fashions, illnesses, ailments, delinquency or offenses punishable by law, aggressive and damaging activities legally repressed (Doron et al.).
In recent years, new types of delinquents have emerged in Côte d'Ivoire. These include "grazers" and "microbes". What they have in common is the practice of theft. But they differ in the methods they use to achieve their ends. Some use cunning, lies and computer tools. Others resort to violence, using bladed weapons. This study aims to identify the psychosociological determinants of the choice of one or other of these two forms of delinquency.
The emergence of juvenile delinquency in Africa can be traced back to the post-independence era. Depending on the era, the culture and the values promoted in society, delinquency takes on a variety of forms. Mucchieli poses three problems in this regard. According to Mucchieli, as the law is constantly evolving, certain behaviors cease to be criminalized, while others become so. Delinquency is made up of all the transgressions defined by criminal law, known and pursued by those involved in social control.
An article published by eburnienews.net states:
In Europe and the Americas, the phenomenon of youth gangs is rampant. In France, 6 people were killed and 252 injured in 2011. This is the result of the growing activism of violent youth gangs, who no longer hesitate to attack the French police head-on. Gangs made up of an even younger population, kids, are making their appearance. A report published in the French newspaper "Le Figaro" mentions that no fewer than 313 gangs were scouring the country. It shows that the proportion of minors involved is rising sharply. They accounted for 56% of the 992 gang aficionados arrested, compared with just 40% in 2010. What's more, in recent years, experts have warned that the formation of juvenile gangs under the age of 13 has been detected in several Ile-de-France conurbations. In the absence of parental authority, these youngsters imitate the behavior of the "grown-ups" who serve as their role models, appropriating the latter's "values".
In the 1970s, Côte d'Ivoire experienced the "Ziguéhis" and "nouchis" phenomenon, characterized by open acts of violence perpetrated by gangsters against the people of Abidjan. The main actors were well known and the phenomenon almost under control.
Since 2012, in the aftermath of the post-electoral crisis, a phenomenon of aggression and violence of a rare barbarity perpetrated with knives by young adolescents and sometimes kids has emerged. Eburnienews.net describes the microbes in these terms:
Armed with knives and always ready to spill human blood, these young murderers, who often disguise themselves as beggars, are no longer hesitating to make news in Abidjan...the microbes, as they are called, have made a bad name for themselves in some of Abidjan's districts and communes, killing their victims with knives, often in broad daylight. Aged between 9 and 15 years, these young murderers no longer hesitate to make a name for themselves.
According to a report by the Conseil National des Droits de l'Homme en Côte d'Ivoire, CNDHCI, microbes or children in conflict with the law are mostly illiterate and frustrated at not having joined the army like their elders after the post-election crisis, due to the age criteria in force.
Originating and spreading in Abidjan's Abobo district, this phenomenon has spread to the city's various neighborhoods.
In parallel with this phenomenon, the scourge of chattering or cybercrime is evolving and multiplying its followers and victims. Cybercrime is a criminal offence committed on or through a computer system, usually connected to a network. In recent years, the democratization of computer access and the globalization of networks have been factors in the development of cybercrime, which, like the scourge of juvenile gangs, has taken on a universal character. It is recognized by many experts as the new form of crime of the 21st century. To control it, France, for example, has set up a number of anti-cybercrime bodies.
According to Rahali, in recent years, special interest has been focused on the phenomenon of cybercrime, which is taking on worrying proportions. She refers to the unprecedented hacking of Oracle, the company that manages commercial payment terminals worldwide, and the biggest names in the USA, such as Twitter, Amazon, Ebay, CNN, the New York Times and others, all victims of a cyber-hack that disrupted their computer systems for over two hours. She deduces that evil is becoming more and more entrenched as technology advances, and in all countries.
Cybercrime is a new form of crime and delinquency that differs from traditional forms in that it takes place in a virtual space, " cyberspace ".
The phenomena of "microbes" and cybercrime have both similarities and differences. Their aim is to make a quick buck without any effort (far from working in a conventional, valued profession) for their followers, who rob their victims. Some courageously face their victims openly, while others perform the same task from behind a computer or laptop screen. The actors all belong to the younger fringe of the population.
Several factors determine the type of delinquency practiced by these "gangs". Some scientific studies emphasize the importance of gender. According to several studies, boys are more involved in delinquency than girls. However, these studies specify that this ratio varies according to the form of delinquency. As the seriousness of offences increases, girls' involvement decreases. Classic theoretical approaches link delinquency to individual (personality, character, temperament, etc.) and environmental characteristics. Agnew, quoted by Lucia and Jaquier, postulates that societal or individual stressors (failures in the pursuit of a goal, need for autonomy, grief...) drive certain individuals to engage in delinquency, preferring illegitimate opportunities to legitimate ones.
Socio-economic status is also identified as a determinant of delinquency. Research carried out by Interspeace and Indigo shows that, although an in-depth analysis of the individual trajectories of young "microbes" reveals a complexity of factors behind their inclination towards violent action, the economic and social environment in which they evolve constitutes a fairly decisive ecosystem. Indeed, the authors of this research, recounting the history of the settlement of the Abobo district, note the characteristics of the populations who live there: low income, promiscuity of housing, desertion of homes by parents, young people living on the streets due to cramped housing and the need for children to earn a living, culture of violence.
There are different types of risk factors. Some of these factors are internal, i.e. specific to the individual, while others are external. From this point of view, risk factors would be divided into five spheres of life: (1) personal aspects; (2) family; (3) peers; (4) school; and (5) community or neighborhood (Loeber & Farrington), cited by Day and Wanklyn.
Research such as that by Bowlby and Spitz suggests that risk factors experienced early in life, for example, during the prenatal and perinatal periods of development, have the most detrimental effects throughout life. These risk factors include not only maternal drug and alcohol use and birth complications, but also abuse and neglect during the first five years of life. Large siblings and poor family management are also risk factors.
Some adolescent risk factors are school performance and peer relationships. These factors tend to be stronger predictors of delinquency in adolescents and adults than risk factors present in childhood.
As noted above, the microbe and cybercriminal populations are roughly in the same age bracket (teenagers and young adults). They share a common ultimate goal: to dispossess others of their property and enrich themselves without exercising a conventional form of valued profession. The choice of modus operandi is undoubtedly linked to the individual's personality (aggressive or Machiavellian), background, level of education, socioeconomic origin and so on. What they have in common is the D factor (Moshagen & al.). According to these authors, a general component known as Factor D can be identified in the field of malice. The D-factor defines the psychological tendency to place personal interests, desires and motivations above any other aspect, be it people or other circumstances. This factor contains the entire spectrum of behaviors that make up malice. It is made up of nine obscure traits: selfishness, Machiavellianism, lack of ethics and morality, narcissism, psychological entitlement, psychopathy, sadism, social and material self-interest, and malice. Factor D can be understood, they argue, as the dark personality incorporating many of these traits.
In conducting this research, we aim to identify the factors involved in the choice of one of the two forms of delinquency under study. The overall aim is to show that the choice of delinquency is linked to certain personality traits, the adolescent's environment and level of education.
- Methodology
This study focuses on two types of delinquents in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Using a qualitative approach, our study analyzes the psychosociological determinants of the choice of delinquency among two types of young offenders: the "microbe" (a type of violent and aggressive hold-up man) and the "brouteur", a form of cybercriminal.
- Sample
The population under study is that of delinquents in the age bracket from adolescence to young adulthood, i.e. from 12 to 25 years of age. This includes cybercriminals or "brouteurs" and "microbes" or children in conflict with the law, in Côte d'Ivoire.
We are conducting a case study of a 21-year-old "microbe" or child in conflict with the law from a family of 15 children (including 5 boys and 10 girls) and a 19-year-old cybercriminal or "grazer" from a family of 5 children (including 2 boys and 3 girls). Both are single, out of school and from disadvantaged backgrounds. The first comes from a Christian family and dropped out of school in 5th grade, while the second has a high school diploma and comes from a fetishist family.
- Hardware
The data collection instrument used is a semi-directive interview guide. The choice of this type of interview is motivated by the fact that it offers the subject the opportunity to explain his or her answers, to substantiate them, ... In addition, it allows the researcher to ask new questions in order to produce a deeper understanding of the subject's responses. This instrument is structured around 6 points:
- biographical information (gender, age, family and sibling size, level of education) ;
- life history of the subject ;
- personality characteristics ;
- origin of delinquency ;
- relationship with drugs, alcohol and narcotics ;
- frustration tolerance.
This interview guide was used to conduct an interview with each of the two respondents.
The verbal productions thus collected are processed using thematic content analysis, the procedures of which are described in the following lines.
- Data analysis: implementing content analysis
The practice of content analysis, according to Aktouf, consists of 6 steps:
- reading the document ;
- definition of themes or categories ;
- definition of the unit of information or context ;
- definition of recording or coding unit ;
- determining the numbering unit.
We used the method of two independent judges. First, two analysts independently read the two interview protocols collected in order to identify the themes and sub-themes around which the respondents' discourse was organized, and to classify the opinions expressed by theme.
After careful and repeated reading of the interviews, we then identified 7 themes covering all the opinions expressed by the participants:
- personality ;
- misdemeanors and felonies ;
- desire for power;
- drug addiction ;
- peer pressure or gang membership ;
- socio-economic background and unsatisfied needs ;
- practice of mysticism.
The "Personality" theme encompasses all the statements describing an individual's relatively stable way of being, their habitual way of reacting to the various situations they face. This theme can be broken down into 7 sub-themes: "criminal", "violent", "risk-taking", "deceitful", "reckless", "carefree" and "camouflaged".
The "Misdemeanors and Crimes" theme deals with the subject's confessions to reprehensible acts or acts punishable by law that he or she has committed in the course of his or her life. This theme is divided into 5 sub-themes: "Robbery", "Theft", "Assault", "Abortion" and "Murder".
The "Desire for power" theme covers a set of opinions expressing the respondent's aspiration to power, material wealth and popularity. It comprises 6 sub-themes: "Desire to lead", "Desire for power", "Desire to be known and popular", "Refusal to submit", "Desire to be loved" and "Desire for money or wealth".
The "Addiction" theme refers to opinions describing the participant's relationship with narcotics. It is further broken down into 4 sub-themes: "Drugs", "Alcohol", "Gasoline" and "Drug sales".
The theme "Peer influence or gang membership" refers to opinions indicating either the subject's membership of a delinquent gang, or his or her influence by a criminal gang.
The theme "Socio-economic background and unsatisfied needs" deals with the subject's dissatisfaction due to his parents' inability to meet his pecuniary and/or material needs, precisely because of their financial difficulties due to their poverty.
Finally, "Mysticism" describes the individual's propensity to use the services of specialists in the occult sciences (fetishists, marabouts, clairvoyants, etc.) to ensure the success of their criminal activities.
The attribution of the various parts of the discourse to the thematic categories highlighted is based on the choice of the following three analysis criteria:
- the recording or coding unit. It enables the text to be broken down into its unitary constituents. Here, we've chosen the idea as the recording unit;
- the context unit, which is used to classify the recording units (in this case, the ideas expressed) into the various themes identified. In this work, any idea expressed by the respondent in relation to one of the above-mentioned themes is considered a context unit;
- the unit of enumeration is the frequency of appearance of ideas related to one of the above themes. The frequency of a theme corresponds to the number of times an idea relating to this theme or sub-theme is evoked in the entire interview protocol of a participant.
The practice of thematic content analysis has produced some instructive results.
- Results
The content analysis of the subjects' words and their statistical analysis have produced results that clearly show the similarities and differences between our two subjects, on the one hand, and between them, on the other.
These results are presented in a summary table and in synthetic and detailed histograms.
Table 1: Content analysis results
| Scrambler | Microbe | ||||||
| THEMES | Subtopics | Frequency | % | % total | Frequency | % | % total |
| PERSONALITY | Violent | 3 | 8% | 42% | 7 | 10% | 34% |
| Criminal | 2 | 6% | 7 | 10% | |||
| Cunning | 3 | 8% | 4 | 6% | |||
| Camouflage | 2 | 6% | 5 | 7% | |||
| Bold | 3 | 8% | 0 | 0% | |||
| Risk-taker | 1 | 3% | 0 | 0% | |||
| Carefree | 1 | 3% | 0 | 0% | |||
| DESIRE FOR POWER | Desire for power | 2 | 6% | 3 | 4% | 10% | |
| Desire for money or wealth | 4 | 11% | 1 | 1% | |||
| Desire to be known and popular | 2 | 6% | 0 | 0% | |||
| Refusal to submit | 0 | 0% | 1 | 1% | |||
| Desire to lead | 0 | 0% | 2 | 3% | |||
| SOCIO-ECONOMIC NOMIC ORIGINS AND TION OF NEEDS | Poverty of parents or family | 2 | 6% | 8% | 1 | 1% | 4% |
| Unsatisfied personal needs | 1 | 3% | 2 | 3% | |||
| TOXICOMANIA | Drugs | 1 | 3% | 3% | 3 | 4% | 10% |
| Alcohol | 0 | 0% | 2 | 3% | |||
| Drug sales | 0 | 0% | 1 | 1% | |||
| Gasoline | 0 | 0% | 1 | 1% | |||
| MISDEMEANORS AND FELONIES | Flight | 3 | 8% | 8% | 7 | 10% | 27% |
| Assault | 0 | 0% | 5 | 7% | |||
| Robbery | 0 | 0% | 3 | 4% | |||
| Murder | 0 | 0% | 2 | 3% | |||
| Abortion | 0 | 0% | 1 | 1% | |||
| THE PRACTICE OF MYSTICISM | 3 | 8% | 8% | 0 | 0% | 0% | |
| PEER INFLUENCE OR GANG MEMBERSHIP | 3 | 8% | 8% | 9 | 13% | 13% |
This table presents the results of the statistical processing of the data collected during the content analysis of the subjects' discourse. Each percentage of appearance of the theme evoked by the subject is represented graphically to give the reader a better idea of the level of influence of each theme and sub-theme on the subjects' choice of type of delinquency.
Figure 1: Histogram of overall results
The results of the content analysis of the study subjects reveal that personality is the most important factor influencing the practice of these two forms of delinquency, for both the microbe and the grazer. However, peer influence, drug addiction and the commission of misdemeanors and felonies are more important for the "microbe". The grazer is distinguished from the "microbe" by his strong desire for power and his attachment to mystical practices.
Analysis of the elements making up the sub-categories sheds more light on the personalities of these two types of offenders.
Figure 2: Histogram of personality components
In terms of personality, the "microbe" is characterized by violence, a strong criminal streak and a propensity for camouflage. The "brouteur", on the other hand, is characterized by great cunning, a strong desire for power, and a high degree of recklessness, which manifests itself in taking high risks in the practice of mysticism, despite knowing the drawbacks associated with this practice.
Figure 3: Histogram of manifestations of the desire for power
The desire for power is more obvious and prominent in the grazer than in the microbe.
Figure 4: Histogram of offences and crimes
The microbe is clearly distinguished from the grazer by the sheer number, forms and violence of the offenses and crimes committed. The aggressiveness of the grazer is masked. The child in conflict with the law interviewed for this study confessed to his aggressiveness. He said that as a child, he liked to fight and that on two occasions, his opponent had bled. His father told him he'd get into trouble whether he won or lost a fight. The fear of trouble prompted him to stop fighting. When this aggression didn't disappear, it was converted and redirected. Thus, this subject's prey had to undergo mystical aggression, forcing them to accede to the "grazer's" demands.
Figure 5: Histogram of substance abuse levels
Grazers are characterized by one major crime: theft. They only commit crimes occasionally, according to the needs expressed by their fetishist or marabout.
Given the violence and forms of crime it commits, the microbe has recourse to several types of drug.
- Discussion
This study was motivated by the need to discover the psychosociological factors determining the choice of form of delinquency practised by young people, particularly grazers and microbes. It emerged that the criminal personality factor was prominent. However, the prominence of personality sub-factors varies according to the type of delinquency practised by the subject. Thus, we noted the strong attraction and mystical practices characteristic of cybercriminals or grazers.
This is in line with the findings of a study by Bazare et al. These authors note the practice of mysticism and associated ritual crimes by cybercriminals to bewitch their victims into complying with their financial demands, and to evade the police. These researchers also note the use of mystical practices at all levels of grafting, the characteristics and level of which vary according to the type of results expected.
A study carried out by Carignan, whose aim was to investigate how the origin of a cybercriminal can influence the characteristics of the crimes committed, reveals that the motivations of cybercriminals differ according to continent. While cybercriminals from developed countries infiltrate computer systems for ideological reasons and to challenge state authorities, those from African and Arab countries are motivated by financial gain and target individuals. These findings concur with those of the present research, which shows the low socio-economic level and unsatisfied needs of the cybercriminal studied.
According to the CNDHCI and Yao report, the microbes are children who fought alongside the "Invisible Commando of Abobo" during the post-electoral crisis, and were frustrated when they were not recruited and integrated into the army as promised. According to this report, they are organized in gangs. They prey on everyone they meet on their way, snatching money, cell phones, jewelry and clothing, and attacking stores. They stock up on drugs and alcohol and, under the influence of these substances, terrorize the population, robbing, beating, slashing or killing those they attack. The subject studied in this work differs from the subjects described here in his motives and mode of integration into a gang of microbes. In addition, having dropped out of school in the seventh grade, this subject falls into the category of illiterates who will have difficulty using a computer tool and the verbal exchanges characteristic of cybercriminals.
The subjects all display aggression, although in the case of cybercriminals, it's veiled under a great deal of guile; the blows inflicted on the victim are mystical and therefore concealed.
It could be said that, while the cybercriminal is in love with glory, the microbe courageously assumes his personality and his crimes and misdemeanors.
The results of this study concur with the theory of Moshagen & al. The microbe and the grazer share the D factor. In each of our subjects, the elements constituting Factor D are found at varying levels, motivating the choice or form of delinquency practised.
Conclusion
The aim of this study was to show that the choice of type of delinquency among microbes and cybercriminals in Côte d'Ivoire is determined by personality and sociological factors. Three lessons can be drawn from it. Firstly, it confirms that personality is the most important factor in determining a person's inclination towards delinquency and the choice of the form of delinquency, in this case the phenomenon of grazing and cybercrime. Secondly, it indicates that each of the subjects was influenced by peers and the type of delinquency practised by them. Thirdly, it reveals that our two subjects have in common an average socio-economic background and dissatisfied needs.
In view of the above, it would be advisable, if we want to solve the problem caused by these two phenomena, to think about and implement a social policy that would reduce the level of poverty, enrol all school-age children in school, and promote better school supervision. Birth control, depending on social level, could also prove beneficial.
In addition, the type of programs or films broadcast by our various TV channels must be carefully selected.
However, the small size of our sample may have limited our ability to circumscribe the certainly extensive field of determinants of the choice of the form of delinquency practised by young people. Research on a larger and more varied sample will give us a better understanding of the phenomenon under study.
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How to cite this article:
MLA: Kone, Amegnan Lydie, Saga Bernard Loba and Logon Albert Thierry Djako. "Analyse qualitative des déterminants psychosociologiques du choix de la forme de délinquance par les jeunes en Côte d'Ivoire: Cas du cybercriminel (brouteur) et de l'enfant en conflit avec la loi (microbe)." Uirtus 1.1 (August 2021): 169-185.
§ Université Félix Houphouët Boigny, [email protected]