The distributed nature of the Internet requires that security issues be addressed through collaborative efforts within and across various sets of public and private actors. Drawing on nodal governance theory, this article explores one aspect of the role that the general public can and does play in the field of cyber-security: civilian policing of the Internet. In particular, we examine the motives and actions of regular citizens, who use their computer skills to identify, track and collect information on the activities of suspected criminal offenders. Whereas some groups use such information to engage in vigilante acts, the groups that we study work cooperatively with police, collecting information to pass onto criminal justice agencies. We suggest that these collectives and their members are a potentially useful, if under-valued, component of cybersecurity networks.

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Increasing public awareness of cyberbullying, coupled with several highly publicized youth suicides linked to electronic bullying, have led lawmakers and politicians to consider new criminal legislation specifically related to cyberbullying. However, little is known about how the police currently respond to cyberbullying, and it is not clear whether new laws are necessary. In this article, the authors draw upon in-depth interviews with Canadian street patrol officers and school resource officers to explore police perspectives on policing cyberbullying. In contrast to the reactive hard-line approach proposed in much legislation and public discussion, police officers prefer to take a preventative approach by educating youth and raising awareness about the dangers of digital communications. Although there are instances when criminal charges must be laid, these incidents transcend "bullying," a term that has little legal meaning for police officers.

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Research shows that, for most people, homelessness is not a chronic state that one enters and never leaves. Instead, homelessness tends to be dynamic, with individuals cycling in and out of multiple periods of homelessness throughout their lives. Despite this recognition, and a wealth of research on the causes of homelessness, generally, there is a lack of scholarship on the pathways to multiple episodes of homelessness. In particular, the relationship between violent victimization and women's likelihood of being homeless multiple times is largely unexplored. Drawing on data collected from 269 structured interviews conducted with women using the services of homeless shelters and/or transitional housing in three U.S. and two U.K. cities, we use multivariate logistic regression to assess whether violent victimization increases women's likelihood of experiencing multiple episodes of homelessness. Our results show that adult victims of stranger-perpetrated physical assault are significantly more likely to be homeless on multiple occasions. In addition, those who experience multiple forms of victimization (e.g., physical and sexual abuse) in childhood, adulthood, and/or across the life course are significantly more likely to experience multiple episodes of homelessness. Given recent efforts to eradicate homelessness, our results suggest specific vulnerable groups that may benefit from targeted social and policy interventions.