Cybercrime and occult practices in Côte d’Ivoire: The case of adolescents in conflict with the law, commonly known as “microbes”
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This mixed prospective study aimed to study cybercrime and occult practices among adolescents in conflict with the law, commonly known as “microbes.” It focused on a sample of 38 participants selected by the reasoned choice technique. In addition to the documentary study, data collection was carried out using support groups and interviewing each individual through a questionnaire developed for this purpose. The results showed that all of our participants were male, 73.68% of them were out of school, and 26.32% graduated without a job. They were between 15 and 25 years old. They had all committed an offense of theft, 94.73% of them were perpetrators of assault and battery inflicted on another person, and 18.42% of these criminal acts led to homicides. In the quest for mystical powers to support their cyber-scam activities, 78.95% used the service of a marabout, 73.68% the service of a witch doctor, and 21.05% of them the support of a seer or a master of a mystical lodge. Although these occult practices obey the same principle, acts of “zamou” can take different forms. Thus, depending on the objects or the supports for putting into practice the “zamou” and the goal pursued, we determined two main types: “zamou” that aims to put a spell on the client to constrain him and extract money from him without any resistance, protection and supernatural favor; and “higher zamou” or “black magic,” which aims at enrichment through a supernatural power. In “higher zamou,” the objects requested for the implementation of these occult practices are of human origin. This reality is believed to be the main cause of the increase in these crimes.
Réseaux sociaux