Crackers are criticized for their unethical hacking, but in fact the practices of both crackers and hackers are often juvenile. This reduces their potential for political resistance. There are differences between hackers and crackers that help hackers maintain their status and which they try to use to protect themselves from prosecution. Crackers and people striving to join the hacker elite have developed an alternative sub-culture. One method inexperienced people use to get into elite circles is to employ a hacker dialect. However,
hackers resist attempts by crackers to bridge the boundary, because they need to have scapegoats to maintain their position.