Defining Cyberbullying

Abstract

Is cyberbullying essentially the same as bullying, or is it a qualitatively different activity? The lack of a consensual, nuanced definition has limited the field's ability to examine these issues. Evidence suggests that being a perpetrator of one is related to being a perpetrator of the other; furthermore, strong relationships can also be noted between being a victim of either type of attack. It also seems that both types of social cruelty have a psychological impact, although the effects of being cyberbullied may be worse than those of being bullied in a traditional sense (evidence here is by no means definitive). A complicating factor is that the 3 characteristics that define bullying (intent, repetition, and power imbalance) do not always translate well into digital behaviors. Qualities specific to digital environments often render cyberbullying and bullying different in circumstances, motivations, and outcomes. To make significant progress in addressing cyberbullying, certain key research questions need to be addressed. These are as follows: How can we define, distinguish between, and understand the nature of cyberbullying and other forms of digital conflict and cruelty, including online harassment and sexual harassment? Once we have a functional taxonomy of the different types of digital cruelty, what are the short- and long-term effects of exposure to or participation in these social behaviors? What are the idiosyncratic characteristics of digital communication that users can be taught? Finally, how can we apply this information to develop and evaluate effective prevention programs?

Just married: the synergy between feminist criminology and the Tripartite Cybercrime Framework

“…Nonetheless, unlike cyber‐bullying, online harassment typically lacks a perpetrator–victim power‐imbalance structure (Englander et al . ).…”

“…Closely related to online harassment is cyber-bullying. Clear distinctions between cyberbullying and online harassment (as far as perpetrators and victims are concerned) have not yet been thoroughly made in psychology (Englander et al 2017). Nonetheless, unlike cyber-bullying, online harassment typically lacks a perpetratorvictim power-imbalance structure (Englander et al 2017).…”

Untitled

“…Section 26 creates the offence of computer fraud. The harassment offences of cyberstalking and cyberbullying are included in section 27 of the Act-a laudable inclusion to prevent internet users from conduct that has detrimental effects on victims as described by (Englander et al, 2017).…”

Introduction

“…They specifically look at how media violence affects viewers' sensitivity to violence and the pain and suffering of others, attentional capacity, academic performance, impulsive aggression, and cognitive skills. Englander et al 21 review research on digitally mediated social cruelty (cyberbullying) and note the need for more research to be conducted on how such behavior differs fundamentally from its offline counterpart. They further observe that "the lack of a consensual, nuanced definition has limited the field's ability to examine these issues."…”