Michael
Lee
$665,000 stolen from Downingtown School
District recovered
This is a case of almost all of the
factors discussed in John Suler's "Online Disinhibition Effect" comes
into perspective. It is basically a
robbery. But, because of the online
capabilities, the suspects use all of the factors to empower themselves to do
such a crime. Dissociative anonymity
allows the suspects to think that it's okay to rob someone, because in real
life, robbing someone usually takes force.
But, online, there is no fight, the suspects are essentially invisibly
committing robbery. The worst part about
the robbery is that they are robbing a school district that is funding kids
education. The minimization of status
and authority, or in this case lack of authority, allowed the suspects to roam
online without supervision and pick the time to rob the school district.
Luckily, someone was keeping an eye on the bank account and noticed the
transfer of money, but it was far too late.
Dissociative Imagination would be
the greatest factor in this case, because the suspects were essentially playing
a game. They didn't have to mask
themselves, arm themselves, and come up with an escape plan; much like what we
see in movies. They committed the crime,
most likely, from the comfort of their homes.
They weren't seen by anyone, they didn't have to react to anyone looking
at them suspiciously, they were invisible.
This case shows how the disinhibition effect could negatively empower
someone to feel not only invisible in society, but invincible.
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