INTERNET ADDICTION : REAL OR VIRTUAL?
When Michael lan Campbell, a would be actor, was brough before a jury on charges of threatening to “finish wha began” at the columbine High School shootings, his defense was a novel one : Internet addiction. According to his lawyer, who put forward the legal theory. Campbell was to immersed in the work of the internet that the could not telt fact from fiction, his threat, said his lawyer, was a virtual one, and not made with criminal intent (Janosfsky, 2000)
Wheter such “Internet addiction” defenses will be affective in court remains tobe seen, but it is clear that the jury is out on whether Internet addiction is an actual, rather than merely “virtual”, psychological disorder.
Clearly some people spend hours each day on the Internet, developing behavior that borders on the compulsive. Some high – use individuals feel anxicty when they are away from a computer, and some try, with litlle success, to reduce their use of computers and the Internet. Thsese people report that they are unable to stop thinking about computers and the Internet, and some spend incrasing amounts of time online, to the neglectof their friends and family. In one court case involving a divorce and custody suit, the husband asserted that his wife spent 10 hours a day on the Internet, neglecting their children. The court supporte the husband’s claims and awarded him custody of the children. The judge further agreed thta the wife’s use of the Internet amounted to abnormal behavior (Orzack, 1999).
Who is most vulnerable to compulsive use of the Internet? People who are easily bored, lonely and shy, or depressed apper most vulnerble, along with people who use the Internet as an escape from everyday life and their problems. Ironically, as people use the Internet more, they report becoming less socially engage with others and more lonely and depressed (Kiesler, et Kraut 1999, Orzack, 1999; Greenfield, 1999).
Although there is evidence that some people use the Internet compulsively, the findings are far from definitive. No specific disorder of Internet addiction or compulsion has been identified by clinical pshychologists. In fact, some researchers argue that Internet use it self is not addictive but is instead simply a vehicle that permits people to pursue preexisting obsessions. For example, people using the Internet at very high levels tend to be primaritly interested in sex, gambling, trading, and shopping; only a few compulsive users merely surf the web ( Kaiser, 1999; DcAngelis, 2000).
Whether excessive Internet usewill eventually be seen as e psychological disorder remains to be seen furthermore, it is far from clear whether defendants (such as Michael lan Campbell) will be able to successfully use an Internet addiction defence in court.
Do you think “Internet addiction” is more than a fascination with new technology? Do you think “addiction” to television would have been obsered when that technology was introduced? How about movies or radio? Are there features of the Internet that make it more addictive than other new technologies? Do you think it is reasonable to argue that such an addiction shoul excuse antisocial or dangerous behavior?
source: essentials of understanding psychology by robert s. feldman
