Langos responds to Spyrou: changing group norms may foster positive responses to victimisation

Colette Lango

Responding to cyberbullying: the case for family conferencing

Cyberbullying is a form of anti-social conduct which is best understood as an online social relationship problem. Because of our growing understanding of the phenomenon, we can now see that any socio-legal response should envisage, therefore, a relationship solution. This article considers how one diversionary criminal justice process is particularly well suited to responding to incidents of cyberbullying where juveniles are involved yet which are deemed to be sufficiently serious to attract a potential criminal penalty. It explores, specifically, the option of family conferences (facilitated by youth justice co-ordinators) within the South Australian youth court framework. It concludes that both young cyberbullies and young victims of cyberbullying may benefit from alternatives to a retributive justice process, given that the primary focus of family conferencing is the repair of harm and the restoration of relationships.Colette Langos, Rick Sarr

Examining the Psychosocial and Behavioral Factors Associated with Adolescent Engagement in Multiple Types of Cyberdeviance: Results from an Australian Study

OnlinePublResearch has shown that psychosocial and behavioral factors are associated with engagement in a range of deviant behaviors across offline settings. To date, however, very little research has explored the impact of these factors in online contexts. This article addresses this gap by examining the psychosocial and behavioral factors associated with common types of adolescent cyberdeviance. This is accomplished through an empirical study of 327 adolescents enrolled in a high school located in a large Australian city. The study assesses various aspects of psychosocial and behavioral functioning using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (total difficulties, internalizing problems, externalizing problems, prosocial behavior), as well as numerous types of cyberdeviance relevant to young people, including cyberfraud, cyberhate, cyberviolence, sexting, digital piracy, hacking, and cyberbullying. A series of multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to demonstrate the association between psychosocial and behavioral difficulties and various types of cyberdeviance, independent of gender, school grade, socioeconomic status, and engagement in offline delinquency. Results indicate that total difficulties, internalizing problems, and externalizing problems were significantly associated with greater likelihood of engagement in most types of cyberdeviance examined in this study, whereas prosocial behavior was associated with a lower likelihood of engagement in digital piracy only. A discussion of the findings highlights the importance of understanding these factors in a digital context, as well as demonstrating the need to account for them when designing targeted interventions.Russell Brewer, Tyson Whitten, Katie Logos, Morgan Sayer, Colette Langos, Thomas J. Holt, Jesse Cale, Andrew Goldsmit

Mother-male bond, but not paternity, influences male-infant affiliation in wild crested macaques

In promiscuous primates, interactions between adult males and infants have rarely been investigated. However, recent evidence suggests that male affiliation towards infants has an influence on several aspects of the infants’ life. Furthermore, affiliations may be associated with male reproductive strategy. In this study, we examined which social factors influenced male-infant affiliation initiated by either male or infant, in wild crested macaques (Macaca nigra). We combined behavioral data and genetic paternity analysis from 30 infants living in three wild groups in Tangkoko Reserve, Indonesia. Our results indicate that adult males and infants do not interact at random, but rather form preferential associations. The social factors with the highest influence on infant-initiated interactions were male rank and male association with the infant’s mother. While infants initiated affiliations with males more often in the absence of their mothers, adult males initiated more affiliations with infants when their mothers were present. Furthermore, males initiated affiliations more often when they were in the same group at the time the infant was conceived, when they held a high dominance rank or when they had a close relationship with the mother. Interestingly, paternity did not affect male-infant affiliation despite being highly skewed in this species. Overall, our results suggest that adult males potentially associate with an infant to secure future mating with the mother. Infants are more likely to associate with a male to receive better support, suggesting a strategy to increase the chance of infant survival in a primate society with high infant mortality

Which laws can apply to cyberbullying?

We are living in the digital age - an age where our lives are intertwined with technology on a daily basis. Along with the undeniable advantages that information communication technologies create, there is a dark side which surfaces when technology is misused in a manner that causes harm to others. One form which has been a focal point of recent scholarship is cyberbullying.Colette Lango

Internet trolling case sparks calls for an Online Ombudsman to handle social network user complaints relating to Internet content - what of the idea?

Colette Lango

Cyberbullying: the shades of harm

Published online: 26 Jun 2014Empirical studies undertaken to date report that exposure to cyberbullying can have potentially serious consequences. This paper assesses the potential harm associated with the various specific manifestations (forms) of cyberbullying based on initial empirical research and a crime seriousness framework originally applied to traditional crimes. The analysis provides valuable theoretical insight into the associated harms of each of the forms of cyberbullying. This is significant in light of the infancy of the research in this area. The research demonstrates that the various manifestations are indeed associated with different levels of harm. It concludes that, based on a principle of harm, not all forms warrant criminalization.Colette Lango

Regulating cyberbullying: a South Australian perspective

Evidence based research informs us that cyberbullying is associated with a range of negative consequences. Moreover, findings from recent studies demonstrate that victims of cyberbullying experience even more severe mental health implications than victims of traditional bullying. Cyberbullying can affect adults and children alike and is manifest in various forms encompassing a broad range of behaviours. At present, there is no specific law outlawing the phenomenon of cyberbullying in Australia. Cyberbullying per se is not legally defined by law, nor prosecuted as such. Given the limited literature on the regulation of cyberbullying, this paper provides a South Australian perspective on the criminal laws capable of regulating instances of this potentially devastating form of online conduct. An analysis of how each of the identified existing criminal provisions may regulate the specific manifestations of cyberbullying demonstrates that the most serious forms are governed comprehensively, albeit in a piecemeal manner. Crucial to South Australia's arsenal of laws capable of regulating cyberbullying was the introduction of recent South Australian filming offences legislation. This legislation has closed a previously existing gap in the criminal law framework in relation to the regulation of 'happy slapping'.Colette Lango