Online trolling: The case of Madeleine McCann

Abstract

Despite the sustained media attention surrounding internet trolling, academic studies investigating its occurrence are rare. This study aimed to provide a case study analysis of the behaviours and strategies of a group of alleged Twitter trolls referred to as the anti-McCanns due to their continual abuse of Kate and Gerry McCann as well as those who support them and thus identify as pro-McCann. The way in which language was used to construct the anti-McCanns group identity, enhance in-group cohesion and facilitate out-group disassociation from the pro-Mccann group was additionally explored, given that previous research has implicated group processes in the propagation of aggressive online conduct. A multi-method approach involving a combination of ethnographic observations and the collection of online commentary was employed. The data was then analysed using quantitative content analysis and discourse analysis, which indicated that language was utilised in a variety of ways by the anti-McCanns to construct a salient group identity and negatively stereotype and disassociate from the pro-McCann group. Findings additionally revealed that several strategies were employed by the anti-McCann trolls to provoke and derogate members of the pro-McCann group, supporting previous findings which have linked trolling to both western media culture and the characteristics of antisocial personality disorder. The implications of these findings both theoretical and practical are discussed, alongside recommendations for future research.

Crime location choices: A geographical analysis of German serial killers

“…One way to examine this further would be to look at any of the writings of the offenders to link into their offenders narratives. Emerging research has shown the utility of examining notes and or written contact to build both victim and offender profiles (Ioannou & Debowska, ; Synnott, Coulias, & Ioannou, ; Synnott, Ioannou, Coyne, & Hemingway, ) The finding of the current study that the two groups do not form subgroups of serial killers regarding their spatial behaviour is not consistent with the findings of Salfati and Bateman (), in the sense that they found that sexual acts fell into the category of instrumental behaviours and stealing objects from the victim was found to be an expressive behaviour. However, the role of emotion and planning could not be investigated in this study and further research on the meaning of sexual and acquisitive offending behaviours for serial killers could clarify the role emotions play in the processes that influence location choices.…”

Examining abuse in online media

“…Synnott, Coulisas, and Ionnaa () use this approach to examine a very specific instance of online abuse: trolling against the McCann family. The McCann family was at the center of a controversy related to the unsolved disappearance of 3‐year‐old Madeleine McCann while her parents were dining at a beach resort in Portugal.…”

“…Researchers adopting this perspective argue that online abuse should be viewed not as an irrational outcome resulting from absence of self-regulation but instead as the rational outcome of group-related processes. Synnott, Coulisas, and Ionnaa (2017) use this approach to examine a very specific instance of online abuse: trolling against the McCann family. The McCann family was at the center of a controversy related to the unsolved disappearance of 3-year-old Madeleine McCann while her parents were dining at a beach resort in Portugal.…”

An appraisal of investigative psychology and the applications to suspicious approaches to children in the Irish criminal justice system

“…Specialist officers receiving training in current behavioural research are much more aware of surrounding behavioural issues associated with such offences. This is where investigative psychologists can further contribute to the investigative process by aiding, suspect prioritization, linking crimes and crime scenes, investigating suicide (Synnott, Coulias & Ioannou, 2017), geographical profiling (Synnott, Bakker, Ioannou, Canter, & van der Kemp, 2019), in addition to, assisting with examinations of offender narratives across crime types (Ioannou, 2006;Ioannou, Canter, Youngs, & Synnott, 2015;Ioannou, Synnott, Lowe, & Tzani-Pepelasi, 2018;Yaneva Ioannou, Hammond, & Synnott, 2018), analysis of online abusive behaviour (Tzani Pepelasi, Ioannou, Synnott, & Ashton, 2018), and assessment of offenders in a forensic settings (Dietzel, Synnott, & Ioannou, 2017).…”