And it’s not only crime; rising rates of technology use also correlate with a drop in other undesirable behaviours. Research has suggested that the same forces have helped to discourage young people from risky sex, drug use and aggression.
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Not everyone is convinced that chronic use of technology is helping to bring down crime. The crime substitution theory put forth by Griffiths and Sutton, for one, has faced detractors. University of Toronto criminologist Anthony Doob considers such theories “a dime a dozen,” because there have been countless changes to society since 1991. Likewise, Simon Fraser University criminology professor Graham Farrell isn’t convinced. He’s a former graduate student of Pease’s in the U.K. and a childhood friend of Sutton’s. Farrell attributes most of the crime drop to an increase in security. Since “debut crimes” such as car thefts and shoplifting have become more difficult, young people may be less likely to start a criminal career in the first place, he says. “That might be the stepping stone to why some violent crimes have gone down,” Farrell says. He’s also skeptical that video games, social media and smartphones contributed to the crime drop, which began in 1991, before Google and texting and before Gen Z was even born. But while he’s quick to point out that correlation is not causation, he’s not totally against further investigation to finally prove or disprove the hypothesis. “Mike [Sutton]’s been talking about it for years,” Farrell says from Vancouver. “I say, ‘This is interesting. Where is the evidence?’ ”
His former professor Pease is considering that challenge right now. Pease has proposed that one of his current post-doc students at the University College London take a more rigorous look at crime and technology to see if a causal link can be identified.
In the meantime, those on the front lines working with at-risk youth are already realizing the power of keeping youth digitally connected.
