Post on 21-Jun-2015
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CYBERBULLYINGClass Discussion Facilitation (Applied Social Psychology)
DISCUSSION FLOW
What we know (focus on social psych component)
How the phenomenon is being studied
What factors/variables influence the problem area
How is it being addressed
WHAT WE KNOWTechnology has changed the way the world operates and the way humans relate to each other – as an extension of our real lives and as an independent mechanism
Perpetrators and victims are only estimated, not all cases are reported (bullyingstatistics.org)
Over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyberbullying
More than 1 in 3 young people have experienced cyberthreats
Over 25% of adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly through their cellphones or the internet
Well over half of young people do not tell their parents when cyberbullying occurs
WHAT WE KNOWThe media highlights some cases and these captured national and global attention: Ryan Halligan (1989-2003), Megan Meier (1992-2006), Jessica Logan (1990-2008), Hope Sitwell (1996-2009), Tyler Clementi (1991-2010), Amanda Todd (1996-2012)
WHAT WE KNOWPopularly, cyberbullying has been held synonymous with:
Cyber stalking – entails the repeated pursuit of an individual using electronic or internet capable devices (Reyns et al, 2012)
Cyber harassment – engaging in an act or behavior that torments, annoys, terrorizes, offends, or threatens an individual via email, instant messages, or other means with the intention of harming that person
Often cited definition (Smith et al, 2008 from Olweus, 1993 definition of face-to-face bullying):
Cyberbullying (CB) consists of long-term aggressive, intentional, repetitive acts by one or more individuals, using electronic means, against an almost powerless victim.
Taxonomy• flaming (i.e., an online fight),
• harassment (i.e., repetitive, offensive messages sent to a target),
• outing and trickery (i.e., soliciting personal information from someone and then electronically sharing that information with others without the individual’s consent),
• exclusion (i.e., blocking an individual from buddy lists),
• impersonation (i.e., posing as the victim and electronically communicating negative or inappropriate information with others as if it were coming from the victim),
• cyber-stalking (i.e., using electronic communication to stalk another person by sending repetitive threatening communications),
• sexting (i.e., distributing nude pictures of another individual without that person’s consent), and
• revenge porn (i.e. distributing sexually explicit media shared by ex-partners)
Unique Features of CB
• Ease of access and unlimited audience
• Decreased inhibition
• Potential for anonymity
• Decreased social control
• Lack of non-verbal cues
HOW IT IS BEING STUDIED
Varying operational definitions
Varying electronic media, depending on what were available when the study was conducted
Compared with traditional bullying
Single-item and multi-item questionnaires
Samples usually from 10-year olds to adolescents, varying age ranges
Mostly self-reports
Correlational studies
Analytical Frameworks
Social information processing
Social cognitive
General Aggression Model (GAM)
Analytical Framework:
Aggression Model
Mehari, Farrel, and Le (2014)
Analytical Framework:
General Aggression Model
Kowalski, Guimetti, Schroeder, and Lattaner (2014)
FACTORS:
Individual and Situational
Gender
Age
Motives
Personality
Psychological states
Socio-economic status and technology use
Values and perceptions
Other maladaptive behavior
Provocation and perceived support
Parental involvement
School climate
Perceived anonymity
General Aggression Model:
Correlates for Cyberbullying (CB)
Forest plot for meta-analyses of cyberbullying
CB IMPLICATIONS:
mitigation and associated risks
Increased exposure = increased susceptibility to CB or CV
Empathy as key to individual protection from engaging in CB
School variables inversely linked to engagement in CB (i.e. school climate, school safety)
Intake of higher amounts of drugs and alcohol
Obtaining lower levels of academic achievement
Higher levels of anxiety, loneliness, and depression; lower levels of self-esteem and life satisfaction
General Aggression Model:
Correlates for Cyber Victimization (CV)
Forest plot for meta-analyses of cyber victimization
CV IMPLICATIONS:
mitigation and associated risks
School safety
School climate
Perceived support
Social anxiety
Frequency of internet use
Risky online behavior
Common between CB and CV
Mitigating factor: School variables (i.e. school climate, school safety) - hence, most interventions are school-based
Risk factor: Anxiety - sign that both CB and CV experience stress
Moderators of CB/CV Relations
Grade level
•As students reach the peak bullying age, the results indicate that youth tend to experience both CV and TV in 7th through 10th grade
Country of origin
•Comparisons only possible between NA and Europe
•relationships between CV and loneliness, self-esteem, TV, and TB, as well as between CB and self-esteem and TV were all stronger in North American samples than in European/Australian samples
Moderators of CB/CV Relations
Single-item vs multiple-item measures
•effect sizes tended to be larger for the relationships between CV and social anxiety and CV and CB when multiple items were used to measure CB/CV
Provision of a bullying definition or the word “bully”
•providing a definition or mentioning the word “bully” in the measure of CB/CV resulted in smaller relationships of CV with age and CB with age, TV, and CV than if a definition or the word “bully” was not included
Moderators of CB/CV Relations
Measurement of traditional bullying
•when TB or TV had also been measured, there were smaller relationships between CB and depression and CB and CV
Gender
•as the percentage of the sample that was female increases, the relationship between cyber- victimization and depression increases
HOW IT IS BEING ADDRESSED:
Some Current InitiativesCOST-Action IS0801: Cyberbullying
Research working group (Switzerland-Germany) (2009)
New concepts for teacher training, anti-cyberbullying materials (2009)
CyberTraining Project (2008-2010)
Investigation into forms of school bullying and cyberbullying among pre-adolescents (2007-2009)
Cyberbullying and Cyber Harassment laws and policy statements
Awareness raising through different media (online websites, printed publications)
ReferencesDehue, F. (2013). Cyberbullying Research: New Perspectives and Alternative Methodologies. Introduction to the Special Issue. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology Vol 23: 1-6. Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibraray.com) DOI: 10.1002/casp.2139
Genta, M.L., Brighi, A., and Guarini, A. (2009), European Project on Bullying and Cyberbullying Granted by Daphne II Programme. Zeitschrift fur Psyhologie/Journal of Psychology 2009, Vol 217 (4): 233-239.
Hazelwood, S.D. & Koon-Magnin, S. (2013). Cyber Stalking and Cyber Harassment Legislation in the United States: A Qualitative Analysis. International Journal of Cyber Criminology July-December 2013, Vol 7 (2): 155-168.
ReferencesJager, T. (2009). CyberTraining: A Research-Based European Training Manual on Cyberbullying. Zeitschrift fur Psyhologie/Journal of Psychology 2009, Vol 217 (4): 233-239.
Katzer, C. (2009). Cyberbullying in Germany: What Has Been Done and What is Going On. Zeitschrift fur Psyhologie/Journal of Psychology 2009, Vol 217 (4): 222-223.
Kowalski, R.M., Guimetti, G.W., Schroeder, A.M., Lattaner, M.R. (2014). Bullying in the Digital Age: A Critical Review and Meta-Analysis of Cyberbullying Research Among Youth. Psychological Bulletin. Vol 140 (4):1073-1137.
References
Mehari, K.R., Farell, A.D., and Le, A.-T.H (2014, August 11). Cyberbullying Among Adolescents: Measures in Search of a Construct. Psychology of Violence. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037521
Smith, P.K. and Sittichai, R. (2009). COST Action IS0801. Zeitschrift fur Psychologie/Journal of Psychology 2009, Vol 217 (4): 233-239.
Six Unforgettable Cyberbullying Cases. Published online at http://nobullying.com/six-unforgettable-cyber-bullying-cases/
-Cyberbullying-Prepared by Eden T. Gallardo forApplied Social Psychology (1st Semester, 2014)