An Intervention Model for Cyberbullying Based on the General Theory of Crime and Routine Activity Theory

Cyberbullying is a major social issue that has the potential to impact on a large audience. The growth and proliferation of ubiquitous social media platforms, internet and digital technologies have increased the potential for cyberbullying in recent times. As such, cyberbullying too has become ubiquitous and does not seem to discriminate on age, sex, race or any other socio-technical factors. This research derives a conceptual model to intervene cyberbullying by following the cyberbully’s journey from conception of the bullying idea, identification of the target to the bullying action. The model is inspired by two competing theories: The General Theory of Crime and Routine Activity Theory. The model incorporates socio-technical crime opportunity factors, which can influence the offender’s motivation

Predictors of Bullying Behaviors Among Adolescents in Saudi Arabia: The Role of Self-Esteem, Emotional Intelligence and Moral Disengagement

Problem Bullying issues are increasing among school-age children worldwide. Children and adolescents involved in bullying as victims, perpetrators, or both are likely to experience negative consequences on their emotional, social, and academic levels (Espelage & Holt, 2001). In spite of the increasing research on bullying in Saudi Arabia, there exists gaps in the literature, especially in the role of individual traits (self-esteem, emotional intelligence) and cognitive processes (moral disengagement) on bullying behavior. Additionally, using modeling analysis to understand the predictive factors affecting bullying involvement processes also filled in some of the gaps in the literature. The current study investigated the prevalence of bullying behavior and gender differences in bullying behavior. In addition, the extent of the relationships among bullying behavior, self-esteem, emotional intelligence, and moral disengagement were examined, including how these variables predicted bullying behavior (victimization/perpetration), and mediated the relationship between moral disengagement and bullying. Method The current study was designed as a non-experimental quantitative research analysis, with data collected via survey methodology. The data was collected from 735 high school students (male/female) between 14 and 19 years old who were attending public high schools in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during the 2022 academic year. Participants completed a self-report survey measuring their (a) demographic background information, (b) bullying behaviors (BCS-A), (c) moral disengagement (MDS), (d) self-esteem (RSES), and (f) emotional intelligence (WLEIS). Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression to examine gender differences, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to examine the structure of relationships among the study variables. Results Regarding the prevalence of victimization, 20.8% of students reported being involved in verbal bullying, followed by physical bullying victimization (17.1%); cyberbullying victimization (17.3%); and relational bullying (16.9%). Regarding the prevalence of perpetration, verbal bullying was reported by 7.9% of the participants, followed by physical bullying (5.9%); cyberbullying (4.9%), and relational bullying (2.3%). The binary logistic regression analysis indicated there were significant differences in relational bullying victimization and perpetration in favor of females, and physical and verbal bullying victimization and perpetration were significantly different for male students. SEM analysis indicated that the initial model was a poor fit for the data. Therefore, upon some revisions, the SEM model predicted 40% of the variances in bullying behavior. Moral disengagement had a positive direct influence on bullying perpetration. Self-esteem was found to positively predict bullying perpetration and negatively influence bullying victimization. Emotional intelligence had a direct positive influence on self-esteem. Moral disengagement had a negative influence on emotional intelligence and self-esteem. Bullying victimization had a direct and positive impact on bullying perpetration. Mediation analysis indicated there was an indirect effect between moral disengagement and bully victimization through self-esteem and/or emotional intelligence; thus, both significantly mediated the relationship between moral disengagement and bullying victimization. In addition, all direct effects were found to be significant among self-esteem, emotional intelligence, and bullying victimization; significant indirect effects were observed between moral disengagement and bullying perpetration. As a result, partial meditation was evidenced. Conclusions The current study contributed to the body of literature by providing a better understanding of the important role of moral disengagement and bullying victimization experiences in predicting bullying involvement among adolescents in Saudi Arabia. The results provide support for the increase of specific protective and preventive factors to control bullying issues in school. Implications for bullying prevention and intervention program makers, educators, mental health professionals, school psychologists, and researchers of bullying behavior were discussed

Social Media, Not So Social: Exploring the Ethical and Administrative Implications of Cyberbullying Research as It Pertains to Its Detection, Measurement, and Implementation of Preventative Strategies in Schools

The digital revolution in the 21st century has paved the way for the proliferation of social networking sites such as Facebook,Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and others, which has helped to perpetuate civilization’s age-old power imbalances in the formof cyberbullying. This article examines how cyberbullying among adolescents is being detected, measured and mitigated, and highlights some ethical considerations for school leaders. This conceptual research paper reviewed and analyzed forty-four scholarly sources, belonging to a wide range of disciplines, from cyber ethics to computer science, which expose cyberbullying as a social justice issue. This article invites school leaders to work within the Critical Transformative Leadership for Social Justice framework when navigating the ethical challenges that may arise with cyberbullying detection, measurement and mitigation initiatives. This paper urges digitally novice adults to keep pace with digitally savvy adolescents, and for policy makers to collaborate with micro-celebrities (i.e., social media influencers) to raise awareness around cyber ethics and digital citizenship among K–12 students

University Students’ Perspectives of Visual-based Cyberbullying on Instagram

Researchers have been investigating the cyberbullying phenomenon since the early 21st century. There is a substantial body of cyberbullying studies focused on text-based formats. However, studies revealed that visual-based social media platforms are more powerful than text-based platforms in affecting people’s emotions, causing significant psychological impact. Young adults ages 18-29 use visual-based social media heavily in their daily lives; therefore, visual cyberbullying on various sites has become a critical issue for this generation. Yet, the majority of existing cyberbullying studies focused on age groups under 18. The studies that did investigate this phenomenon among young adults focused mainly on text-based types of cyberbullying. Few studies have investigated visual-based cyberbullying of the adult population. Thus, this dissertation study explored university students’ perspectives of visual-based cyberbullying, with a specific focus on Instagram, because of its popularity. A Holistic Theoretical Framework was proposed to guide the study. This framework is grounded in the Social Ecological Model and the Cognitive-Affective-Behavioral frameworks. This study applied a mixed-method approach to collect data using four techniques: surveys, interviews, visual narrative inquiry, and scans of policy documents. Findings reported in this study have disclosed the nature of visual-based cyberbullying on Instagram as experienced by university students, revealed students’ perspectives of visual-based cyberbullying, unveiled the visual elements from actual incidents narrated by students, generated a novel definition of visual cyberbullying, and illuminated the gap between current university policies and real-world practices regarding the visual-based cyberbullying issue. This study contributes to the cyberbullying theoretical foundation, especially in exploring visual cyberbullying from cognitive, affective, and behavioral perspectives. Furthermore, the study collected visual cyberbullying cases that were crafted and narrated by study participants who witnessed cyberbullying incidents in real life. Future studies and practitioners may benefit from this study by applying the visual cases participants created to inform the design of research instruments and literacy educational materials. In addition, policymakers in higher education may learn from this study about the need to address cyberbullying more effectively in policy documents targeting undergraduate students. This study may also serve as a reference for the definition and examples of visual cyberbullying

A Document Analysis on Bullying Policies and Procedures at the Hamilton Wentworth Catholic District School Board

This study examined bullying within schools and school bullying policies with a focus on the Hamilton Wentworth Catholic District School Board (HWCDSB). Conducting a critical policy and document analysis of eight documents on the HWCDSB website, this study sought to answer the following research questions: How does HWCDSB board policy contribute to how bullying is understood and addressed in HWCDSB schools? How does HWCDSB’s bullying policy compare to the best practices identified in the literature? Working within the framework of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, four themes emerged. The themes were analyzed to explore how bullying policy acts as an intervention within schools. This MRP adds to the body of work surrounding critical policy and document analysis, and school bullying policy. Recommendations for improving HWCDSB policies and recommendations for future research were presented. This research can inspire and promote an ecological approach to policy implementation and management of bullying behaviour

Review of existing Australian and international cyber-safety research

Information and communication technologies have permeated almost all areas of society and become an important component of daily functioning for most Australians. This is particularly true for Internet and mobile phone technology. The majority of Australian households (67% in 2007 – 2008) have access to the Internet and over 11 million Australians use the Internet as an integral part of their personal, social and occupational activities. By mid-2008, there were over 22 million active mobile phones being used in Australia, which equates to more than one phone for every citizen. There are many benefits associated with Internet and mobile phone use; however, there are also risks, particularly with the Internet. In fact, there is almost daily media discussion of these risks and dangers. However, to ensure that the information contained in this review was as accurate as possible, we primarily sourced quality research literature published in scientific journals both in Australia and overseas. In addition, quality material not published in scientific journals was consulted and included where appropriate, thus ensuring that this review was based on reliable research studies containing the most current and accurate research evidence available. From the outset, it is important to note that there are several methodological and ethical issues in relation associated with the measurement and examination of many cyber-safety risks. The nature of this type of research makes it very difficult to address certain risk areas, in particular those that relate to children (e.g., online grooming)

In the name of status:Adolescent harmful social behavior as strategic self-regulation

Adolescent harmful social behavior is behavior that benefits the person that exhibits it but could harm (the interest of) another. The traditional perspective on adolescent harmful social behavior is that it is what happens when something goes wrong in the developmental process, classifying such behaviors as a self-regulation failure. Yet, theories drawing from evolution theory underscore the adaptiveness of harmful social behavior and argue that such behavior is enacted as a means to gain important resources for survival and reproduction; gaining a position of power This dissertation aims to examine whether adolescent harmful social behavior can indeed be strategic self-regulation, and formulated two questions: Can adolescent harmful social behavior be seen as strategic attempts to obtain social status? And how can we incorporate this status-pursuit perspective more into current interventions that aim to reduce harmful social behavior? To answer these questions, I conducted a meta-review, a meta-analysis, two experimental studies, and an individual participant data meta-analysis (IPDMA). Meta-review findings of this dissertation underscore that when engaging in particular behavior leads to the acquisition of important peer-status-related goals, harmful social behavior may also develop from adequate self-regulation. Empirical findings indicate that the prospect of status affordances can motivate adolescents to engage in harmful social behavior and that descriptive and injunctive peer norms can convey such status prospects effectively. IPDMA findings illustrate that we can reach more adolescent cooperation and collectivism than we are currently promoting via interventions. In this dissertation, I argue we can do this in two ways. One, teach adolescents how they can achieve status by behaving prosocially. And two, change peer norms that reward harmful social behavior with popularity

The Influence of Ethnicity on the Impact of Cyberbullying Among Adults

Ethnicity is a factor that predicts how a person is impacted by cyberbullying, but to date little research has been conducted to investigate this phenomenon. Some researchers have reported that individuals belonging to ethnic minorities may have a greater overall resistance to bullying behavior and bias due to stress inoculation. The purpose of this study was to determine if ethnic minority status serves as a protective factor against the negative impact of cyberbullying in adults. This research study was guided by inoculation and socio-ecological systems theories. A convenience sample of 618 American adults who use social media at least 3 hours per week was used. The Cyberbullying Victimization Scale was used to measure 3 areas of cyberbullying victimization, and a demographic survey was used to measure gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, income level, religious affiliation, and marital status. Data were analyzed using multivariate multiple regression to identify if ethnicity and the covariates are related to the experience of cyberbullying victimization. The results of the present study lent support to the socio-ecological systems theory, suggesting that participants’ various socio-ecological systems impacted their experience with cyberbullying victimization. However, the results of the statistical analyses provided conflicting results with regard to inoculation theory and stress inoculation. The aim of this study has been to promote awareness of this growing social problem among adults and to encourage more rapid and effective intervention to cyberbullying. Increased awareness and potential interventions developed as a result of the findings in this study could promote positive social change by helping adult cyberbullying victims to recover more quickly and offer them better coping strategies in the future

The Bonds That Break: Sibling Abuse Perpetration Behaviors as Correlates of Peer Bullying Perpetration Behaviors: A Structural Equation Model

Problem The literature suggests that the perpetration of sibling violence and peer bullying behaviors present multifaceted concerns for both families and society. Furthermore, there are differences in how the perpetration of peer bullying and sibling violence behaviors have been emphasized in the United States. However, research examining how these experiences may be related is limited. Method A survey was used to collect data on lifetime reports of sibling abuse and peer bullying perpetration behaviors from a sample of 252 adults. A total of six variables were measured using an altered version of the Conflict Tactics Scale. Results Using partial least squares structural equation modeling, a significant relationship was found between lifetime reports of sibling abuse perpetration behaviors from the general population and their peer bullying perpetration behaviors. Reports of perpetrating physical sibling abuse, perpetrating sexual sibling abuse, and perpetrating psychological sibling abuse were significantly associated with reports of perpetrating physical peer bullying, perpetrating sexual peer bullying, and perpetrating psychological peer bullying. Conclusions Perpetration behaviors of sibling abuse and peer bullying impact a substantial number of both individuals and families. These findings may present a better understanding of the processes and relationships between familial and extra-familial abuse, potentially offering new and effective means of not only identifying and treating abuse by siblings and peers, but also to recognize behaviors that may prevent such abuse. Additionally, with gender as a potential mediating factor, educators and counseling therapists should frame and focus their research and clinical services of family and interpersonal violence in a manner that is inclusive of each contributing dynamic

Exploring the perception, interpretation, and role of humour in cyberbullying from the perspective of adolescents and emerging adults

Cyberbullying is a pervasive form of online aggression that can lead to considerably negative and harmful consequences. Previous research with adolescents and emerging adults has identified a range of motivations for cyberbullying perpetration. A frequently reported motive to cyberbully others is for humorous entertainment. The overall aim of the research program was to explore the role of humour within cyberbullying from the perspective of young people and emerging adults and to explore the factors which mediate the severity perception of humoristic cyberbullying. A sequential exploratory mixed methods approach with three studies was employed. Study 1 utilised seven focus groups with 28 adolescents (aged 11-15) to gain insight into the attitudes, understandings, and perspectives of young people concerning the role of humour within cyberbullying. Using Reflexive Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006; 2021), Study 1 identified a number of core factors related to severity perceptions of humoristic cyberbullying, which were incorporated into 96 hypothetical vignettes for experimental studies 2 and 3. Study 2 explored 356 adolescents aged 11-16 (Mean age = 13.24, SD = 1.28) severity perception of online aggressive humour. For the purpose of rigour and exploration of age differences in severity perceptions, Study 3 was designed to replicate the design of Study 2. Study 3 was conducted with an older sample population of 417 participants aged between 16-21 (Mean age = 17.14, SD = 1.11). Additionally, Study 3 incorporated three covariates, cyberbullying victimisation and perpetration experiences and aggressive humour style, which were added to the design with the aim to account for potential confounding effects. Findings from multilevel modelling indicated that severity perceptions of the humoristic cyberbullying vignettes were influenced by range of factors in Study 2 and 3. Key findings were found to be attributed to gender differences, the influence of repetition and audience and social context across both studies. A final key finding from covariate analysis reported from Study 3 indicated a relationship between aggressive humour style and lower severity perceptions. Aspects of these findings challenge and support the cyberbullying definition, and therefore substantially contribute to the growing body of literature that is building a theoretical framework around cyberbullying. Implication and the prospects of future research leading from the findings of this thesis are expansive and are imperative to the future understanding of the role of humour within cyberbullying behaviours