New Script | Criminality

Routine activity theory (Cohen & Felson, 1979) must be re-specified. The “suitable target” is no longer just a person or property; it is a vulnerable API, a weak password hash, or an unpatched firmware . The “capable guardian” is not just a police officer or a neighbor; it is a firewall, an intrusion detection system, or a platform’s content moderation algorithm . The “motivated offender” may be a bot, a state-sponsored hacker, or a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) of pseudonymous actors.

For a century, criminological theory has relied on a conventional “script” of criminality: physical, predatory, territorially bound, and motivated by material need or social dysfunction. However, the confluence of digital ubiquity, artificial intelligence, and decentralized finance has rendered that script obsolete. This paper proposes a new script for 21st-century criminality, characterized by three paradigm shifts: (1) from physical space to hybrid ontology (crime that is simultaneously digital and physical), (2) from actor to network (distributed, automated, and anonymous offending), and (3) from moral transgression to algorithmic exploitation (crime as a computational logic problem). We argue that understanding this new script requires a synthesis of routine activity theory, actor-network theory, and post-digital criminology. The paper concludes with implications for law enforcement, policy, and prevention, advocating for a proactive, code-based counter-script rather than reactive, spatial policing. Criminality New Script

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Criminality’s New Script: From Alleyway to Algorithm Routine activity theory (Cohen & Felson, 1979) must