https://nrcs.ui.ac.ir/ New Research in Criminal Science en daily 1 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0330 Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0330 https://nrcs.ui.ac.ir/article_30693.html Introduction: By moving beyond the crime-centered limitations of criminal law, the social harm approach provides a broader analytical framework for examining harmful behaviors that, although not criminalized under formal legal systems, produce profound and widespread consequences for individuals and society. In the context of platform governance, this perspective is particularly significant because many harms generated or exacerbated through digital platforms stem from governmental decisions, policies, or omissions and can therefore be conceptualized as platform governmental crimes. Methods: This study employs a descriptive–analytical methodology grounded in the social harm approach to examine the structural harms arising from platform governance. It demonstrates how power embedded within digital infrastructures can generate harmful social consequences without requiring direct violence or explicit decision-making. Results: The findings identify five principal mechanisms through which platform governance produces deep and enduring social harms: the centralization of data power, platform monopolization, the absence of independent oversight, the transformation of platforms into instruments of governance and their subsequent misuse, and the erosion of transparency and accountability. Discussion: These harms not only undermine digital rights and civil liberties but also weaken accountability, exacerbate social inequalities, and expand unaccountable power, thereby disrupting the governance structure itself. Accordingly, the social harm approach offers an effective analytical framework for identifying, examining, and addressing platform governmental crimes while underscoring the need to rethink digital governance policies and strengthen independent oversight mechanisms. https://nrcs.ui.ac.ir/article_30694.html Male sexual victimization is one of the lesser-known phenomena in the criminal law and criminology literature, which experiences a high level of concealment and underreporting due to the dominance of gender stereotypes. The aim of the present study is to explain the dimensions of male sexual victimization, the typology of perpetrators, and the analysis of factors affecting the formation, continuation, and concealment of this phenomenon in light of field findings. This study was conducted with a qualitative approach based on inductive content analysis. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews based on the Delphi method with a group of experts including psychiatrists, psychologists, criminologists, sociologists, physicians, and sexual victims, and were coded and analyzed using MAXQDA software. The findings showed that male sexual victimization is a multidimensional phenomenon that is shaped by the interaction of individual, psychological, social, cultural, and structural factors. Perpetrators can also be classified into distinct types, including situational, domineering, vengeful, severely mentally disturbed, organized, and female perpetrators, each with different motivations, methods of committing, and behavioral patterns. The results of the study also showed that gender stereotypes, social stigma, weak reporting mechanisms, and insufficient legal protections are among the most important factors in the concealment of male sexual victimization and the reduction of their referral to the criminal justice system. Accordingly, reforming criminal policy, reviewing gender-based attitudes, developing specialized support for victims, and improving the training of criminal justice system personnel are among the most important requirements for effective support for male victims. The innovation of the present study lies in presenting the first qualitative typology of male sexual victimization perpetrators based on field data and explaining this phenomenon in an interdisciplinary framework that can serve as the basis for reforming legislative, judicial, and preventive policies.