Victims’ Voices: Understanding the Emotional Impact of Cyberstalking and Individuals’ Coping Responses

Abstract

Traditional stalking is a considerable public health issue and describes a constellation of behaviors in which one individual intrudes upon or harasses another resulting in fear experienced by the victim as a result of the unwanted pursuit (McEwan, MacKenzie, Mullen, & James, 2012). Ubiquitous access to the Internet has dramatically altered communication in contemporary society, and these electronic means provide perpetrators with novel ways of pursuing individuals. In light of this, a phenomenon known as cyberstalking has emerged that can be defined as the repeated pursuit of an individual utilizing electronic means to induce fear or distress (Maple, Short, & Brown, 2011). As the Internet is a rapidly evolving medium, many new forms of cyberstalking are emerging and provide additional tools for stalkers' arsenal. Cyberstalking can take many forms including sending direct threats via email, encouraging others to threaten or harass the victim, distributing intimate photographs online, impersonating the victim online, and seeking and compiling information on the victim (Short, Linford, Wheatcroft, & Maple, 2014). Social networking sites provide a novel way to gather information about an individual and, as such sites facilitate intrusion-like behaviors, they are being used as conduits for stalking and online harassment (Fox, 2016). Indeed, according to Kraft and Wang (2010), social media has made stalking much easier and visiting social networking sites can lead to an increased likelihood of becoming a victim of cyberstalking. However, in many cases, the perpetrator makes use of both online and offline stalking techniques (Maple et al., 2011;Sheridan & Grant, 2007) and other researchers have also reported that it is common for cyberstalking to begin with the issuing of threats, and escalate to physical assault (Bocij, Griffiths, & McFarlane, 2002).Stalking is one of the most common forms of interpersonal violence. Figures from the British Crime Survey 2011 demonstrate that one in five women and one in 10 men will be stalked at some point during their life (Smith, Coleman, Eder, & Hall, 2011) and more recent figures from the 2013/2014 Crime Survey for England and Wales demonstrate that 4.4% of women and 2.5% of men aged 16 710292S GOXXX10.

Characteristics of Cyberstalking Behavior, Consequences, and Coping Strategies: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Sample of Italian University Students

“…Many victims did not consider the online experience of harassment to be a violent behavior because they perceived that turning off the computer permitted leaving the harassment in cyberspace. As suggested by Worsley, Wheatcroft, Short and Corcoran [29], rumors and harassment could transcend cyberspace and enter daily life. Moreover, underestimating the experience of victimization does not permit recognizing the problem and, as a consequence, asking for help to cope with the phenomenon.…”

Prevalence of Cyberstalking and Previous Offline Victimization in a Sample of Italian University Students

“…From their findings, it emerged that in 92% of the cases the offenders used only one type of behaviour (in 79% of cases the mode of contact was email). Cyberstalking has consequences on victims' mental health and wellbeing, such as distress (Jansen van Rensburg 2017) and feelings of betrayal, hurt, paranoia, insomnia, anger, fear, anxiety and depression (Cavezza and McEwan 2014;Golladay and Holtfreter 2017;Worsley et al 2017).…”

Once bitten, twice shy: An exploratory study of victim impact from and adoption of self-protective behaviours against cyber abuse

“…While most established research has focused on conventional crimes such as burglary, sexual and violent offences, more recently the effects of online crime such as cyber abuse 3 have been studied (Sheridan and Grant, 2007;Hensler-McGinnis, 2008;Dreßing et al, 2014;Nobles et al, 2014;Short et al, 2014;Short et al, 2015;Worsley et al, 2016;Fissel, 2018;Fissel and Reyns, 2019). Research suggests that, much like the victims of conventional crimes, victims of cybercrimes such as cyber abuse experience a variety of negative effects including persistent psychological impairment and issues of personal insecurities (Parsons-Pollard and Moriarty, 2009;Dreßing et al, 2014;Nobles et al, 2014).…”

“…In the context of cyber abuse victimization, Fissel (2018) operationalized self-protective behaviours as re-porting incidents of victimization to the police. Worsley et al (2016), who focused on the psychological impact of cyberstalking, conceptualized self-protective behaviours as behaviours aiming to cope with the stress associated with experiencing victimization and was measured as avoidant coping, ignoring the perpetrator, confrontational coping, support seeking and cognitive re-framing. Sheridan and Grant (2007), who compared victims impact and response to victimization between stalking and cyberstalking victims measured self-protective behaviours using the following indicators: changing employment, changing the course of study, changing/getting rid of the car, undertaking some security measures, going underground/changing identify, and giving up social activities.…”