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The rising threat of cyberhate for young people around the globe
Abstract
This chapter reviews the theoretical frameworks and current empirical findings on cyberhate and its impact on children and adolescents. We draw on the sparse empirical literature on the topic and add insights gleaned from closely related lines of inquiry, such as cyberbullying. We focus on the dilemma posed by our First Amendment protections of freedom of speech and the dangers to our youth posed by exposure to cyberhate. We emphasize the importance of directing attention to this topic by researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to protect our youth from this serious online risk.
... A pesar de su especial interés en el ámbito de la educación de los estudios sociales, ha sido poco tratado y aún se desconocen tanto las implicaciones como el alcance socio educativo de la inclusión curricular de temas controvertidos o de cuestiones socialmente vivas, procedentes de los distintos espacios sociales digitales, en el aula de Historia y Ciencias Sociales. No obstante, pese a las potenciales contribuciones de las redes sociales al desarrollo de las democracias, ha sido evidenciada su función facilitadora de la polarización discursiva (Matakos et al., 2017) y de la proliferación de los discursos de odio (Ortega-Sánchez et al., 2021;Bauman et al., 2021;Castaño-Pulgarín et al., 2021), en torno a contenidos controvertidos de especial naturaleza social e histórica. ...
... De esta manera, se corrobora la importancia de formar al profesorado de todas las áreas de conocimiento y, en particular, al profesorado de Ciencias Sociales, para manejar estos problemas. En este proceso formativo, los conceptos de tercer orden constituyen la piedra angular del proyecto (Körber, 2015;Nordgren, 2019;Sakki & Pirttila-Backman, 2019), permitiendo la toma de perspectiva y de conciencia para comprender la historicidad de la realidad social en los entornos virtuales, aprehender su comportamiento, y empatizar con sus usuarios/as (Bauman et al., 2021). Conectar los aspectos cognitivos con los emocionales de la conciencia histórica permitiría educar en un pensamiento histórico holístico, atendiendo a los enfoques epistemológicos básicos y a los principios éticos y morales, orientados hacia una educación para el futuro (Fronza, 2020Ortega--Sánchez & Pagès, 2018). ...
El objetivo de la presente investigación busca conocer, por una parte, los niveles de conciencia histórica del futuro profesorado español de Educación Secundaria (n = 61) en las redes sociales/entornos virtuales. Por otra, pretende aproximarse a las representaciones del pasado-presente-futuro, construidas por los y las futuras docentes, en estos espacios, e interpretar las relaciones entre sus niveles de conciencia histórica y su interacción con temas controvertidos a partir de sus propias narrativas sociales (n = 169). El estudio se adscribe a los enfoques cualitativo-deductivos, con el fin de comprobar la transferibilidad teórica de los niveles de conciencia histórica de Rüsen al contexto específico de una universidad española. Los resultados obtenidos arrojan niveles mayoritariamente ejemplares y críticos de conciencia histórica, con escasas variaciones entre las dimensiones analizadas (pandemia global por COVID-19 y salud pública; memoria histórica, identidades nacio-nales, crisis migratorias e identidades excluyentes; identidades de sexo-género e identidades excluyentes). Puede concluirse que trabajar temas controvertidos, generados en entornos virtuales, en la formación del profesorado podría mejorar la adquisición de conceptos de tercer orden, como la conciencia histórica, capacitando a los y las futuras docentes para abordar satisfactoriamente cuestiones socialmente vivas en el aula de forma transversal e interdisciplinar.
... Despite its particular interest in the field of social studies education, it has been little addressed, and both the implications and the socio-educational scope of the curricular inclusion of controversial topics or socially live issues from different digital social spaces in the history and social studies classroom are still unknown. However, despite the potential contributions of social networks to the development of democracies, their role in facilitating discursive polarization (Matakos et al., 2017) and the proliferation of hate speech Bauman et al., 2021;Castano-Pulgarin et al., 2021), and the controversial content of a particularly social and historical nature, has been demonstrated. ...
... In this way, the importance of training teachers in all subject areas, and in particular, Social Sciences teachers, to deal with these problems is corroborated. In this training process, third-order concepts constitute the cornerstone of the project (Körber, 2015;Nordgren, 2019;Sakki & Pirttila-Backman, 2019), enabling perspective and awareness to understand the historicity of social reality in virtual environments, apprehend its behaviour, and to empathize with its users (Bauman et al., 2021). Connecting the cognitive with the emotional aspects of historical awareness would allow education in holistic historical thinking, attending to basic epistemological approaches and ethical and moral principles oriented towards education in the future (Fronza, 2020Ortega-Sánchez & Pagès, 2018). ...
The aim of this research is to determine, on the one hand, the levels of historical awareness of future Spanish secondary school teachers (n = 61) in social networks and/or virtual environments. On the other hand, it aims to approach the representations of the past-present-future constructed by future teachers in these spaces, and to interpret the relationships between their levels of historical awareness and their interaction with controversial issues based on their own social narratives (n = 169). This study follows a qualitative-deductive approach to test the theoretical transferability of Rüsen's levels of historical consciousness to the specific context of a Spanish university. The results obtained show mostly exemplary and critical levels of historical awareness, with little variation between the dimensions analysed (global pandemic by COVID-19 and public health; historical memory, national identities, migratory crises, and exclusionary identities; sex-gender identities and exclusionary identities). Consequently, it can be concluded that working on controversial issues generated in virtual environments in teacher training could mean a potential improvement in the acquisition of third-order concepts, such as historical awareness, allowing future teachers to successfully address issues and situations of social life in the classroom in a transversal and transversal way. interdisciplinary way.
... At both theoretical and empirical fronts, the number of studies on cyberhate is still low and there are pressing gaps in knowledge that need to be addressed promptly (Bauman et al., 2021;Blaya, 2019;Castaño-Pulgarín et al., 2021;Chetty & Alathur, 2018;Hawdon et al., 2015;Tareen et al., 2021). The present study aimed to analyze the association between cyberhate victimization and perpetration and to explore the moderating effect of social dominance orientation on the link between cyberhate victimization and subsequent perpetration among Andalusian adolescents. ...
Introduction
Expressions of cyberhate motivated by characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, and religious beliefs are now present and prevalent on social networks. Past research, both in online and offline contexts, has identified that, although there may be an overlap between victims and perpetrators of violence; this is not always the case. Nevertheless, the number of studies focused on variables that moderate the relation between victimization and perpetration is still low. The current study aims at analyzing the relation between cyberhate victimization and perpetration and the potential moderating role of social dominance on this relation.
Method
During the 2019/2020 school year in Andalusia, Spain, a prospective longitudinal study was implemented. The study used a representative sample of 1498 adolescents enrolled in compulsory secondary education in the first wave (51.8% female; Mage = 13.58) and 1195 adolescents in the second wave (53.2% female; Mage = 14.04). Surveys administrated to adolescents were used for data collection.
Results
The findings revealed a positive correlation between cyberhate victimization and perpetration. They supported the notion that social dominance not only predicted the perpetration of cyberhate several months later, but also its moderating effect on the relation between cyberhate victimization and perpetration. Cyberhate victims who reported higher levels of social dominance were more likely to become perpetrators several months later.
Conclusion
Results suggest the need to implement preventive programs considering the influence of social dominance. These strategies could promote social equality and help to interrupt the cycle in which victims can become perpetrators of cyberhate.
... Adolescents rely heavily on information and communication technolo-gies (ICT) while dealing with different developmental tasks, including identity exploration, development of autonomy, search for belonging, and formation of romantic relationships [3]. As they seek to establish their sense of identity by affiliating with (online) social groups, adolescents become vulnerable to being targeted by hate groups [4]. Equipping adolescents with the skills they need to deal with this emerging online risk constitutes a significant challenge for researchers, educators, practitioners, and caregivers. ...
Online hate speech (OHS) poses a significant threat to young people's online experiences due to its potential to cause adverse outcomes regarding their mental health and well-being. This brief report provides an overview of recent research investigating OHS, including its prevalence, definitional issues, theoretical frameworks, and correlates and outcomes of OHS involvement. While several definitions of OHS exist, initial attempts to elaborate an evidence-based definition have been made in recent years. However, the distinct aspects of OHS included in existing definitions may be challenging to assess. Regarding OHS assessment, an additional limitation lies in adopting single-item measures, which entails reliability and validity issues.
Moreover, existing findings are mainly cross-sectional, limiting our understanding of OHS's predictors and outcomes. Despite these limitations, the extant literature builds on solid theoretical frameworks while investigating several protective and risk factors, including moral disengagement, self-efficacy, and parental mediation. Nevertheless, much remains to be done in terms of defining OHS based on bottom-up approaches and in terms of translating existing knowledge into evidence-based prevention. Moving beyond existing approaches, future programs are encouraged to prevent OHS through counterspeech while adopting a multi-component approach. The chapter outlines suggestions for future research directions and recommendations for practitioners working with adolescents.
... Using hate speech based on various factors such as ethnicity, gender, and disability has become a significant issue for social media platforms, resulting in severe emotional and mental impacts on individuals [6]. Bauman et al. [7] recently examined how often children and teenagers experience online hate speech. They found that there are many different ways of measuring cyberhate, and few studies have focused specifically on cyberhate. ...
The rapid increase in Internet users has led to increased online concerns such as hate speech, abusive texts, and harassment. In Bangladesh, hate text in Bengali is frequently used on various social media platforms to condemn and abuse individuals. However, Research on recognizing hate speech in Bengali texts is lacking. The pervasive negative impact of hate speech on individuals’ well-being and the urgent need for effective measures to address hate speech in Bengali texts have created a significant research gap in the field of Bengali hate speech detection. This study suggests a technique for identifying hate speech in Bengali social media posts that may harm individuals’ sentiments. Our approach utilizes the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) architecture to extract Bengali text properties, whereas hate speech is categorized using a Gated Recurrent Units (GRU) model with a Softmax activation function. We propose a new model, G-BERT, that combines both models. We compared our model’s performance with several other algorithms and achieved an accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score of 95.56%, 95.07%, 93.63%, and 92.15%, respectively. Our proposed model outperformed all other classification algorithms tested. Our findings show that the strategy we have suggested is successful in locating hate speech in Bengali texts posted on social media platforms, which can aid in mitigating online hate speech and promoting a more respectful online environment.
Internet usage is a salient developmental factor in adolescents’ lives. Although relevant correlates of Internet use have been documented earlier, there is a lack of information on lower socioeconomic status groups. This is important, as these adolescents have increased risk of negative online experiences. The current survey aimed to explore Internet use and parental involvement amongst adolescents from areas of socio-economic disadvantage in 30 urban schools across five European countries. A total of 2594 students participated, of whom 90% were 14–16 years. Virtually all adolescents of socioeconomic disadvantage had Internet access, with 88.5% reporting spending more than two hours per day online, often on apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. Almost one-third of adolescents did not talk with their parents about their Internet use and almost two-thirds indicated that their parents were only a little or not interested in their Internet use. A consistent finding across countries was that girls more often talked with their parents about their Internet use and more often reported that their parents were interested in their Internet use than boys. The results suggest that parents have an important task in explicitly showing interest in their adolescents’ Internet use, with special attention needed for boys.
The freedom of expression enabled through information and communication technologies (ICT) has been misused to create, (re)produce, and distribute cyberhate. Otherwise known as online hate speech, it refers to all forms of ICT-mediated expression that incites, justifies, or propagates hatred or violence against specific individuals or groups based on their gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or other collective characteristics. This chapter aims to contribute to a comprehensive analysis of cyberhate among adolescents and adults. It is structured into three main sections. The first operationalizes the key conceptual characteristics, disentangles the similarities and differences between cyberhate and other forms of violence, and presents the known prevalence of victimization and perpetration. The second identifies the main sociodemographic correlates and discriminates the risk and protective factors with theoretical frameworks. The chapter concludes with recommendations for prevention and intervention strategies that demand a multi-stakeholder approach.
In this paper we present the results of a systematic review aimed at investigating what the literature reports on cyberbullying and cyberhate, whether and to what extent the connection between the two phenomena is made explicit, and whether it is possible to identify overlapping factors in the description of the phenomena. Specifically, for each of the 24 selected papers, we have identified the predictors of cyberbullying behaviors and the consequences of cyberbullying acts on the victims; the same analysis has been carried out with reference to cyberhate. Then, by comparing what emerged from the literature on cyberbullying with what emerged from the literature on cyberhate, we verify to what extent the two phenomena overlap in terms of predictors and consequences. Results show that the cyberhate issue related to adolescents is less investigated than cyberbullying, and most of the papers focusing on one of them do not refer to the other. Nevertheless, by comparing the predictors and outcomes of cyberbullying and cyberhate as reported in the literature, an overlap between the two concepts emerges, with reference to: the parent-child relationship to reduce the risk of cyber-aggression; the link between sexuality and cyber-attacks; the protective role of the families and of good quality friendship relationships; the impact of cyberbullying and cyberhate on adolescents' individuals' well-being and emotions; meaningful analogies between the coping strategies put in practice by victims of cyberbullying and cyberhate. We argue that the results of this review can stimulate a holistic approach for future studies on cyberbullying and cyberhate where the two phenomena are analyzed as two interlinked instances of cyber-aggression. Similarly, prevention and intervention programs on a responsible and safe use of social media should refer to both cyberbullying and cyberhate issues, as they share many predictors as well as consequences on adolescents' wellbeing, thus making it diminishing to afford them separately.
Systematic Review Registration
http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO, identifier: CRD42021239461.
There is some indication that discrimination as well as low levels of life satisfaction render young people at risk of cyberhate victimization. Adopting a socio-ecological perspective, this paper examines whether supportive family, peer and school environments may buffer against the effects of perceived discrimination and low life satisfaction on cyberhate victimization. Data from four countries (N = 3,396) of the EU Kids Online IV survey on children aged 11-17 (51% girls) revealed a positive association between perceived discrimination and cyberhate victimization, but this impact was moderated by supportive family and peer environments. A negative association between life satisfaction and cyberhate victimization was mitigated by peer support. However, no associations with the school context were found. The current study provides new insights on how social support on different levels of the social environment may buffer against potential risk factors for cyberhate victimization and can inform decision-makers towards intervention and prevention strategies.
The emergence and spread of the Internet has led to the fact that the virtual space has become a new source of communication, especially for adolescents, active users. However, such communication differs significantly from real interaction in the absence of various restrictions that affect the quality of communication and can lead to complete disregard of generally accepted moral norms. The purpose of the article is to analyze the features of adolescents ' communication on the Internet and the boundaries of normativity that they tend to cross, as well as the reasons for their violation. The article considers the positive and negative impact of Internet communication on the personality of schoolchildren, communication models, revealing the distinctive features of network interaction of young people and their negative consequences. The problems of compliance with the norms of communication and etiquette are analyzed, which, among other things, can develop into a more aggressive form – cyberbullying. Statistical data on violations of the boundaries of normativity when communicating with young people on the Internet in a number of countries are presented. The main directions of prevention of non-normative interaction of adolescents in the virtual space are highlighted. The study of the peculiarities of communication of adolescents in the digital environment will reveal in more detail the understanding of the causes of the spread of virtual aggression and will be able to contribute to the development of the level of communication culture of young people on the Internet.
Recent evidence shows that young people across Europe are encountering hateful content on the Internet. However, there is a lack of empirically tested theories and investigation of correlates that could help to understand young people’s involvement in cyberhate. To fill this gap, the present study aims to test the Routine Activity Theory to explain cyberhate victimisation and the Problem Behaviour Theory to understand cyberhate perpetration. Participants were 5433 young people (Mage = 14.12, SDage = 1.38; 49.8% boys from ten countries of the EU Kids Online IV survey). Self-report questionnaires were administered to assess cyberhate involvement, experiences of data misuse, frequency of contact with unknown people online, problematic aspects of sharenting, excessive Internet use, and sensation seeking. Results showed that being a victim of cyberhate was positively associated with target suitability (e.g., experiences of data misuse, and contact with unknown people), lack of capable guardianship (e.g., problematic facets of sharenting), and exposure to potential offenders (e.g., witnessing cyberhate, and excessive Internet use). Findings support the general usefulness of using Routine Activity Theory to explain cyberhate victimisation. Being a perpetrator of cyberhate was positively associated with several online problem behaviours (e.g., having contact with unknown people online, excessive Internet use, and sensation seeking), which supports the general assumption of the Problem Behaviour Theory. The findings of this research can be used to develop intervention and prevention programmes on a local, national, and international level.
This systematic review aimed to explore the research papers related to how Internet and social media may, or may not, constitute an opportunity to online hate speech. 67 studies out of 2389 papers found in the searches, were eligible for analysis. We included articles that addressed online hate speech or cyberhate between 2015 and 2019. Meta-analysis could not be conducted due to the broad diversity of studies and measure units. The reviewed studies provided exploratory data about the Internet and social media as a space for online hate speech, types of cyberhate, terrorism as online hate trigger, online hate expressions and most common methods to assess online hate speech. As a general consensus on what is cyberhate, this is conceptualized as the use of violent, aggressive or offensive language, focused on a specific group of people who share a common property, which can be religion, race, gender or sex or political affiliation through the use of Internet and Social Networks, based on a power imbalance, which can be carried out repeatedly, systematically and uncontrollably, through digital media and often motivated by ideologies.
Online hate is a topic that has received considerable interest lately as online hate represents a risk to self-determination and peaceful coexistence in societies around the globe. However, not much is known about the explanations for adolescents posting or forwarding hateful online material or how adolescents cope with this newly emerging online risk. Thus, we sought to better understand the relationship between a bystander to and perpetrator of online hate, and the moderating effects of problem-focused coping strategies (e.g., assertive, technical coping) within this relationship. Self-report questionnaires on witnessing and committing online hate and assertive and technical coping were completed by 6829 adolescents between 12 and 18 years of age from eight countries. The results showed that increases in witnessing online hate were positively related to being a perpetrator of online hate. Assertive and technical coping strategies were negatively related with perpetrating online hate. Bystanders of online hate reported fewer instances of perpetrating online hate when they reported higher levels of assertive and technical coping strategies, and more frequent instances of perpetrating online hate when they reported lower levels of assertive and technical coping strategies. In conclusion, our findings suggest that, if effective, prevention and intervention programs that target online hate should consider educating young people about problem-focused coping strategies, self-assertiveness, and media skills. Implications for future research are discussed.
Cyberhate exposure can have serious negative impacts on adolescents' development. However, there has been scarce research on adolescents' coping strategies for cyberhate. Deepening the knowledge of how adolescents deal with cyberhate might help researchers, teachers, and parents find a way to alleviate negative effects of cyberhate on adolescents. Therefore, the present study investigates adolescents' coping strategies for cyberhate, while considering differences in adolescents’ sex, age, socioeconomic status (SES), and victim status. The sample consists of self-reports of 1480 participants who were between 12 and 17 years old (Mage = 14.21 years, SD = 1.22) and attended 7th through 10th grades. Results showed that six varying coping strategies could be confirmed, namely Distal advice, Assertiveness, Helplessness/Self-blame, Close support, Technical coping, and Retaliation. Technical coping was the most frequently used coping strategy followed by Assertiveness, Close support, Helplessness/Self-blame, Retaliation, and Distal advice. Girls more frequently used all coping strategies, except for Retaliation which had no sex differences. Younger adolescents reported more often using Technical coping than older adolescents. Distal advice and Technical coping were higher among participants with lower SES, compared with adolescents with higher SES. Distal advice and Close support were higher for non-victims than victims, whereas the mean of Retaliation was higher for victims than non-victims. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
While the Internet offers many opportunities to access information, training and communication, it has created new grounds for risks, threats and harm. With the rise of populism and extremism, new forms of cyberbullying emerge, more specifically cyberhate. The Internet has become a privileged tool to disseminate hatred, based on racism, xenophobia, bigotry, and islamophobia. Organized groups use the internet as a dissemination tool for their ideas, to build collective identity and to recruit young people. The presence of these groups has been facilitated worldwide thanks to technology. Yet, little attention has been granted to the way the Internet eases the activities of individuals who promote and propagate hate online. The role they play in spreading racism, xenophobia and bigotry is paramount as they regularly comment online about news and events, interacting with like-minded people with impunity because the web prevents people from being easily identified or controlled. While literature on exposure to hateful contents and cyberhate victimization is growing, little is known about who the perpetrators really are. A survey with young people aged 12–20 (N = 1,889) was completed in France and forms the basis of this article. It provides an understanding of the characteristics and associated variables of cyberhate perpetration. The Structural Equation model shows that cyberhate perpetration is heavily related to time spent online, victimization, belonging to a deviant youth group, positive attitudes toward violence and racism. Results from the SEM further suggest that people who suffered from online victimization will themselves have a greater tendency to belong to deviant youth groups. Multiple mediation analysis further suggests that trust in institutions may however prevent young people from belonging to a deviant youth group and decrease positive attitudes toward violence, thus diminishing the tendency to perform hateful aggression.
Hatred directed at members of groups due to their origin, race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation is not new, but it has taken on a new dimension in the online world. To date, very little is known about online hate among adolescents. It is also unknown how online disinhibition might influence the association between being a bystander and being a perpetrator of online hate. Thus, the present study focused on examining the associations among being a bystander of online hate, being a perpetrator of online hate, and the moderating role of toxic online disinhibition in the relationship between being a bystander and a perpetrator of online hate. In total, 1480 students aged between 12 and 17 years old were included in this study. Results revealed positive associations between being an online hate bystander and perpetrator, regardless of whether adolescents had or had not been victims of online hate themselves. The results also showed an association between toxic online disinhibition and online hate perpetration. Further, toxic online disinhibition moderated the relationship between being a bystander of online hate and being a perpetrator of online hate. Implications for prevention programs and future research are discussed.
Background:
Adolescents are among the highest consumers of social media while research has shown that their well-being decreases with age. The temporal relationship between social media interaction and well-being is not well established. The aim of this study was to examine whether the changes in social media interaction and two well-being measures are related across ages using parallel growth models.
Methods:
Data come from five waves of the youth questionnaire, 10-15 years, of the Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study (pooled n = 9859). Social media interaction was assessed through daily frequency of chatting on social websites. Well-being was measured by happiness with six domains of life and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.
Results:
Findings suggest gender differences in the relationship between interacting on social media and well-being. There were significant correlations between interacting on social media and well-being intercepts and between social media interaction and well-being slopes among females. Additionally higher social media interaction at age 10 was associated with declines in well-being thereafter for females, but not for males. Results were similar for both measures of well-being.
Conclusions:
High levels of social media interaction in early adolescence have implications for well-being in later adolescence, particularly for females. The lack of an association among males suggests other factors might be associated with their reduction in well-being with age. These findings contribute to the debate on causality and may inform future policy and interventions.
In an online experiment we examined the role of self-control in recognizing social cues in the context of disinhibited online behavior (e.g., flaming and trolling). We temporarily lowered participants' self-control capacity with an ego depletion paradigm (i.e., color Stroop task). Next, we measured participants' sensitivity to social cues with an emotional Stroop task containing neutral, negative, and taboo words. Sensitivity to social cues is represented by the increase in reaction time to negative and especially taboo words compared to neutral words. As expected, undepleted participants were slower to process the color of negative and taboo words. By contrast, depleted participants (i.e., those with lowered self-control capacity) did not react differently to taboo or negative words than they did to neutral words. The experiment illustrates that self-control failure may manifest itself in a failure to recognize social cues. The finding underlines the importance of self-control in understanding disinhibited online behavior: Many instances of disinhibited online behavior may occur not because people are unable to control themselves, but because they do not realize that a situation calls for self-control in the first place.
Background:
The family can be a protective/risk factor for violence. The study analyzes differences in family variables (parental stress, parental competence and parenting styles) among severe student victims, aggressors, cybervictims, and cyberaggressors (who have very frequently suffered or carried out bullying/cyberbullying behaviors in the past year) and those who have neither suffered nor carried out any aggressive behavior or only occasionally.
Method:
Participants were 1,993 students in the 5th-6th grade (9-13 years old).
Results:
Victims and aggressors of bullying had parents with higher levels of parental stress, who used more authoritarian educational styles (low affection, coercive discipline, high control), and more permissive practices (high affection/overprotection, low demand/control); parents of aggressors also had a lower level of parental competence. Cybervictims had parents with higher parental stress who used more permissive educational styles. Cyberaggressors had parents with a low level of parental competence.
Conclusions:
The family context is relevant for bullying/cyberbullying, but family variables have more influence on bullying than on cyberbullying.
Sozialwissenschaftliche Interventionen mit dem Ziel, individuelle Ressentiments gegen „Fremde“ abzubauen, haben häufig mit dem Problem zu kämpfen, dass sie die Adressaten nicht erreichen, die von solchen Maßnahmen besonders profitieren würden: Rassisten gehen antirassistischen Argumentationen aus dem Weg. Lediglich während der Pflichtschulzeit sind alle potenziell Anzusprechenden verfügbar. Damit bietet die schulische Ausbildung die einmalige Chance, auf interkulturelle Beziehungen und die Bewältigung interkultureller Konflikte einen positiven Einfluss zu nehmen.2 Die allgemeine Pflichtschulzeit fällt mit einem Lebensabschnitt der Schülerinnen und Schüler zusammen, in dem sich ethnische Vorurteile verfestigen (vgl. Aboud 1988). In dieser Lebensphase kann man einer solchen Verfestigung von Vorurteilen vermutlich noch am ehesten gegensteuern.
Drawing from routine activity theory (RAT), this article seeks to determine the crucial factors contributing to youth victimization through online hate. Although numerous studies have supported RAT in an online context, research focusing on users of particular forms of social media is lacking. Using a sample of 15- to 18-year-old Finnish Facebook users (n = 723), we examine whether the risk of online hate victimization is more likely when youth themselves produced online hate material, visited online sites containing potentially harmful content, and deliberately sought out online hate material. In addition, we examine whether the risk of victimization is higher if respondents are worried about online victimization and had been personally victimized offline. The discussion highlights the accumulation of online and offline victimization, the ambiguity of the roles of victims and perpetrators, and the artificiality of the division between the online and offline environments among young people.
There is a considerable amount of hate material online, but the degree to which individuals are exposed to these materials vary. Using samples of youth and young adults from four countries, we investigate who is exposed to hate materials. We find support for using routine activity theory to understand exposure at the individual level; however, there is significant cross-national variation in exposure after accounting for individual-level factors. We consider two plausible hypotheses that could account for this cross-national variation. The data best fit the hypothesis that anti–hate speech laws may provide a source of guardianship against exposure.
While the Internet has opened many new opportunities to expand our minds, knowledge and friendship networks, it has also created new types of risks and threats. Probably the most distinct negative online behavior that has recently received scholarly attention is online extremism and hate. This article combines earlier research findings with unique comparative data to add new perspectives to the understanding of how extremist and hate materials are seen online among young people aged 15 to 30 years old. We examined the rates and the forms of exposure in four countries: Finland, the United States of America, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Our findings show that exposure to hate material is common in all four nations. Our findings should raise a red flag in the sense that hate appears to be a part of the online experience.
Mobbing an Schulen ist unbestritten ein sehr altes Phänomen, das vermutlich existiert, seitdem es die Institution Schule gibt. Heute wird Mobbing allerdings nicht mehr als "Randerscheinung des Erwachsenenwerdens" bagatellisiert, sondern als nicht tolerierbares soziales Fehlverhalten geahndet. Das Buch gibt zunächst einen kurzen Überblick über Merkmale und Formen von Mobbing. Konkret wird erläutert, wie sich in einer Schulklasse Fälle von Mobbing erkennen lassen, welche Folgen unerkanntes Mobbing für Opfer und Täter hat und welche Rolle die Unbeteiligten spielen. Im Mittelpunkt stehen dann konbkrete Handlungsmöglichkeiten, um die jeweilige spezifische Situation einzuschätzen, mit der Klasse gezielt Strategien zu entwickeln, um Mobbing entgegenzuwirken. Gespickt mit vielen Fallbeispielen wird die Darstellung anschaulich und der praktische Transfer des präsentierten Wissens erleichtert.
Purpose – Trust is one of the key elements in social interaction; however, few studies have analyzed how the proliferation of new information and communication technologies influences trust. The authors examine how exposure to hate material in the internet correlates with Finnish youths’ particularized and generalized trust toward people who have varying significance in different contexts of life. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to provide new information about current online culture and its potentially negative characteristics. Design/methodology/approach – Using data collected in the spring of 2013 among Finnish Facebook users (n=723) ages 15-18, the authors measure the participants’ trust in their family, close friends, other acquaintances, work or school colleagues, neighbors, people in general, as well as people only met online.
Findings – Witnessing negative images and writings reduces both particularized and generalized trust. The negative effect is greater for particularized trust than generalized trust. Therefore, exposure to hate material seems to have a more negative effect on the relationships with acquaintances than in a more general context.
Research limitations/implications – The study relies on a sample of registered social media users from one country. In future research, cross-national comparisons are encouraged. Originality/value – The findings show that trust plays a significant role in online setting. Witnessing hateful online material is common among young people. This is likely to have an impact on perceived social trust. Hateful communication may then impact significantly on current online culture, which has a growing importance for studying, working life, and many leisure activities.
Cyberbullying victimization is an important adolescent health issue. The cross-national study aimed to investigate the prevalence of cyber victimization and associated internalizing, externalizing and academic problems among adolescents in six European countries. A cross-sectional school-based study of 14–17 year-old adolescents (N = 10,930; F/M: 5719/5211; mean age 15.8 ± 0.7 years) was conducted in Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, Romania, Iceland and Greece. In total, 21.4% of adolescents reported cyber victimization in the past 12 months. Reports were more frequent among girls than boys (23.9% vs. 18.5%), and among the older adolescents compared to the younger ones (24.2% vs. 19.7%). The prevalence was highest in Romania and Greece (37.3% and 26.8%) and lowest in Spain and Iceland (13.3% and 13.5%). Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that cyber victimization was more frequent among adolescents using the internet and social networking sites for two or more hours daily. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that externalizing, internalizing and academic problems were associated with cyber victimization. Overall, cyber victimization was found to be a problem of substantial extent, concerning more than one in five of the studied European adolescents. Action against cyber victimization is crucial while policy planning should be aimed at the prevention of the phenomenon.
This study (1) reports frequency rates of mutually exclusive traditional, cyber and combined (both traditional and cyber) bullying roles; and (2) investigates whether adolescents belonging to particular bullying roles show higher levels of involvement in risky online activities (Compulsive Internet Use (CIU), online grooming victimization, and sexting) and risky offline activities (bad behavior in school, drinking alcohol and truancy) than non-involved adolescents. The sample comprised self-reports of 1928 German, Dutch and Thai adolescents (Age = 12–18; M = 14.52; SD = 1.6). The results revealed age, sex and country differences in bullying frequency rates. CIU, sending of sexts and risky offline activities were most strongly associated with combined bully-victims. The receiving of sexts was most strongly associated with combined bullies; and online grooming victimization was most strongly related to cyber bully-victims. Another important finding is that the associations between risky offline activities and combined bullying are stronger than for traditional and cyber bullying. The findings contribute to better understanding of the associations between varying bullying roles and risky online and offline activities among adolescents. In sum, the results underscore the need to promote life skills rather than adopting more conventional approaches, which focus almost exclusively on reduction of risks.
Random samples of at least 1,000 youth, ages 9 to 16 years, from 25 European countries (N = 25,142) were used to test the salience of low self-control on cyberbullying perpetration and victimization (direct and indirect effects), framed by a cross-cultural developmental approach. Path models, which provided evidence of invariance by sex, tested the hypothesized links among low self-control as well as known correlates, including offline perpetration and victimization, and externalizing behaviours. Results showed positive associations between online and offline bullying behaviours (perpetration and victimization), and, more interestingly, both direct but mostly indirect effects by low self-control on cyberbullying perpetration and victimization; externalizing behaviours had little additional explanatory power. Importantly, multi-group tests by country samples provided evidence of quite modest differences in the tested links across the 25 developmental contexts, despite some observed differences in the amount of variance explained in the dependent measures.
Prior research has demonstrated that victims of peer victimization show reduced psychological adjustment, social adjustment, and physical well-being compared with nonvictims. However, little research has addressed whether this maladjustment continues over the long term. This study examined adjustment in 72 high school students who had participated in a peer-nomination procedure assessing peer victimization when in elementary school (5 to 8 years earlier). Thirty-five high school students who had been peer nominated as overtly and/or relationally peer victimized were compared with 37 peers who were not nominated as victimized in elementary school. High school students completed self-report measures of psychological adjustment, social adjustment, physical well-being, and current overt and relational victimization. In addition, a retrospective self-report measure of peer victimization in elementary school was administered. Results revealed that, although current self-reported peer victimization was negatively related to adjustment, elementary-school peer-nomination measures of victimization were unrelated to high-school adjustment. Further, current self-reports of remembered victimization in elementary school were associated with lowered adjustment. These results indicate that current and past perceived peer victimization is negatively related to adjustment, but past experience of peer-identified victimization has a more complex relation to current adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
Although the Internet has transformed the way our world operates, it has also served as a venue for cyberbullying, a serious form of misbehavior among youth. With many of today's youth experiencing acts of cyberbullying, a growing body of literature has begun to document the prevalence, predictors, and outcomes of this behavior, but the literature is highly fragmented and lacks theoretical focus. Therefore, our purpose in the present article is to provide a critical review of the existing cyberbullying research. The general aggression model is proposed as a useful theoretical framework from which to understand this phenomenon. Additionally, results from a meta-analytic review are presented to highlight the size of the relationships between cyberbullying and traditional bullying, as well as relationships between cyberbullying and other meaningful behavioral and psychological variables. Mixed effects meta-analysis results indicate that among the strongest associations with cyberbullying perpetration were normative beliefs about aggression and moral disengagement, and the strongest associations with cyberbullying victimization were stress and suicidal ideation. Several methodological and sample characteristics served as moderators of these relationships. Limitations of the meta-analysis include issues dealing with causality or directionality of these associations as well as generalizability for those meta-analytic estimates that are based on smaller sets of studies (k < 5). Finally, the present results uncover important areas for future research. We provide a relevant agenda, including the need for understanding the incremental impact of cyberbullying (over and above traditional bullying) on key behavioral and psychological outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
Theoretical and empirical research investigating victimization and offending has largely been either ‘victim-focused’ or ‘offender-focused.’ This approach ignores the potential theoretical and empirical overlap that may exist among victims and offenders, otherwise referred to as ‘victim–offenders.’ This paper provides a comprehensive review of the research that has examined the relationship between victimization and offending. The review identified 37 studies, spanning over five decades (1958–2011), that have assessed the victim–offender overlap. The empirical evidence gleaned from these studies with regard to the victim–offender overlap is robust as 31 studies found considerable support for the overlap and six additional studies found mixed/limited support. The evidence is also remarkably consistent across a diversity of analytical and statistical techniques and across historical, contemporary, cross-cultural, and international assessments of the victim–offender overlap. In addition, this overlap is identifiable among dating/intimate partners and mental health populations. Conclusions and directions for future research are also discussed.
A survey among 2052 primary and secondary school children reveals that cyberbullying among youngsters is not a marginal problem. However, there are discrepancies between the prevalence figures based on direct measurement versus indirect measurement of cyberbullying. Youngsters who have bullied someone via the internet or mobile phone during the last three months are younger, and are more often victims and bystanders of bullying via the internet or mobile phone, and are more often the perpetrators of traditional bullying. Youngsters who have been bullied via the internet or mobile phone during the last three months are more dependent upon the internet, feel less popular, take more internet-related risks, are more often a bystander and perpetrator of internet and mobile phone bullying, and are less often a perpetrator and more often a victim of traditional bullying. The implications for future research into cyberbullying and for cyberbullying prevention strategies are discussed.
Leitend ist für die International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2016 (ICCS 2016) die Frage, inwieweit Jugendliche in der Schule auf ihre Rolle als Bürger*innen in Demokratien vorbereitet werden. Im Jahr 2016 hat Nordrhein-Westfalen als eines von 24 Schulsystemen in Europa, Asien und Lateinamerika an ICCS 2016 teilgenommen. Damit liegen erstmals seit 1999 international vergleichende Erkenntnisse über die Situation der politischen und zivilgesellschaftlichen Bildung für ein deutsches Bundesland vor.
Der nationale Bericht zu ICCS 2016 stellt folgende Fragen in den Mittelpunkt:
– Über welche Kompetenzen zur Analyse des politischen Geschehens verfügen Schüler*innen im internationalen Vergleich?
– Welche für Bürgerschaft relevanten Einstellungen, Identitäten und Partizipationsabsichten zeigen 14-Jährige?
– Welche Voraussetzungen sind innerhalb und außerhalb der Schule für zivilgesellschaftliche und politische Bildung bedeutsam?
Zu diesen Fragen werden Ergebnisse vor dem Hintergrund der bisherigen Forschung und Theoriebildung diskutiert und in den internationalen Vergleich eingeordnet.
Die Studie bietet für Studierende, pädagogische Fachkräfte, Verantwortliche im Bildungssystem und Wissenschaftler*innen eine Gelegenheit, ihre Vorstellungen über politisches Wissen, Identitäten, Einstellungen, Partizipationsbereitschaft und Zukunftserwartungen künftiger Bürger*innen zu reflektieren. Durch eine Bestandsaufnahme des politischen Mindsets von 14-Jährigen im internationalen Vergleich schafft ICCS 2016 eine empirische Basis für die weitere Entwicklung der politischen und zivilgesellschaftlichen Bildung in den beteiligten Ländern.
Mit Beiträgen von
Hermann Josef Abs, Ewa Bacia, Helen Baykara-Krumme, Igor Birindiba Bastia, Monika Buhl, Daniel Deimel, Eveline Gutzwiller-Helfenfinger, Katrin Hahn-Laudenberg, Janina Jasper, Sabine Manzel, Johanna F. Ziemes, Frank Eike Zischke
(Text: Waxmann)
Background: Problem Behaviour Theory postulates that different forms of norm violations cluster and can be explained by similar antecedents. One such cluster may include cyberbullying and cyberhate perpetration. A potential explanatory mechanism includes toxic online disinhibition, characterized by anonymity, inability to empathise, and to recognise and interpret social cues. We sought to develop a better understanding of the relationship between cyberhate and cyberbullying to inform effective intervention and prevention initiatives.
Aims: To test the link between cyberbullying and cyberhate, and whether this relationship was moderated by toxic online disinhibition.
Methods: Self-report questionnaires on cyberbullying, cyberhate, and toxic online disinhibition were completed by 1,480 young people between 12 and 17 years old (M = 14.21 years; SD = 1.68).
Results: Increases in cyberbullying perpetration and toxic online disinhibition were positively related to cyberhate perpetration. Furthermore, cyberbullies reported more cyberhate perpetration when they reported higher levels of toxic online disinhibition and less frequent cyberhate perpetration when they reported lower levels of toxic online disinhibition.
Conclusion: Our findings show a positive link between cyberbullying and cyberhate perpetration, and add evidence of a role for toxic online disinhibition in its moderation. This suggests that, if they are to be effective, prevention and intervention programmes should a) consider the co-occurrence of varying forms of cyberaggression and b) include attention to the potential effects of the online environment on young people’s aggressive online behaviour.
Online hatred based on attributes, such as origin, race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation, has become a rising public concern across the world. Past research on aggressive behavior suggests strong associations between victimization and perpetration and that toxic online disinhibition and sex might influence this relationship. However, no study investigated both the associations between online hate victimization and perpetration, and the potential moderation effects of toxic online disinhibition and sex on this relationship. To this end, the present study was conducted. The sample consists of 1,480 German 7th to 10th graders from Germany. Results revealed positive associations between online hate victimization and perpetration. Further, the results support the idea that toxic online disinhibition and sex, by way of moderator effects, affect the relationship between online hate victimization and perpetration. Victims of online hate reported more online hate perpetration when they reported higher levels of online disinhibition and less frequent online hate perpetration when they reported lower levels of toxic online disinhibition. Additionally, the relationship between online hate victimization and perpetration was significantly greater among boys than girls. Taken together, our results extend previous findings to online hate involvement among adolescents and substantiates the importance to conduct more research on online hate. In addition, our findings highlight the need for prevention and intervention programs that help adolescents deal with the emerging issue of online hate.
While social media has become an empowering agent to individual voices and freedom of expression, it also facilitates anti-social behaviors including online harassment, cyberbullying, and hate speech. In this paper, we present the first comparative study of hate speech instigators and target users on Twitter. Through a multi-step classification process, we curate a comprehensive hate speech dataset capturing various types of hate. We study the distinctive characteristics of hate instigators and targets in terms of their profile self-presentation, activities, and online visibility. We find that hate instigators target more popular and high profile Twitter users, and that participating in hate speech can result in greater online visibility. We conduct a personality analysis of hate instigators and targets and show that both groups have eccentric personality facets that differ from the general Twitter population. Our results advance the state of the art of understanding online hate speech engagement.
The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential moderating role of online disinhibition in the associations between adolescents' callous-unemotional traits (callousness, uncaring, unemotional) and anonymous and non-anonymous cyberbullying. To this end, 1047 (49.2% female) 7th and 8th graders completed questionnaires on their face-to-face bullying, cyberbullying, callous-unemotional traits, and online disinhibition. The findings revealed that increases in uncaring were more associated with self-reported non-anonymous and anonymous cyberbullying at higher levels of online disinhibition. The findings are discussed in the context of the characteristics associated with callous-unemotional traits, and how these characteristics increase adolescents' risk of cyberbullying perpetration. Recommendations are made for tailoring intervention programs to consider adolescents' personality traits.
What factors are related to online targeting of hate material based to sexual orientation? This study addresses that question, utilizing a sample of 968 Internet users aged 15–36. Employing a logistic regression analysis, we find that social network usage, online antagonism, informal online social control, and a lack of online anonymity increase the likelihood of being targeted. Moreover, individuals living in the southern region of the United States are nearly three times as likely to be targeted by hate related to sexual orientation, whereas those living in rural areas are more than twice as likely to face such targeting.
Social media platforms provide an inexpensive communication medium that allows anyone to quickly reach millions of users. Consequently, in these platforms anyone can publish content and anyone interested in the content can obtain it, representing a transformative revolution in our society. However, this same potential of social media systems brings together an important challenge---these systems provide space for discourses that are harmful to certain groups of people. This challenge manifests itself with a number of variations, including bullying, offensive content, and hate speech. Specifically, authorities of many countries today are rapidly recognizing hate speech as a serious problem, specially because it is hard to create barriers on the Internet to prevent the dissemination of hate across countries or minorities. In this paper, we provide the first of a kind systematic large scale measurement and analysis study of hate speech in online social media. We aim to understand the abundance of hate speech in online social media, the most common hate expressions, the effect of anonymity on hate speech and the most hated groups across regions. In order to achieve our objectives, we gather traces from two social media systems: Whisper and Twitter. We then develop and validate a methodology to identify hate speech on both of these systems. Our results identify hate speech forms and unveil a set of important patterns, providing not only a broader understanding of online hate speech, but also offering directions for detection and prevention approaches.
Drawing from routine activity theory (RAT), this article seeks to determine the crucial factors contributing to youth victimization through online hate. Although numerous studies have supported RAT in an online context, research focusing on users of particular forms of social media is lacking. Using a sample of 15- to 18-year-old Finnish Facebook users (n = 723), we examine whether the risk of online hate victimization is more likely when youth themselves produced online hate material, visited online sites containing potentially harmful content, and deliberately sought out online hate material. In addition, we examine whether the risk of victimization is higher if respondents are worried about online victimization and had been personally victimized offline. The discussion highlights the accumulation of online and offline victimization, the ambiguity of the roles of victims and perpetrators, and the artificiality of the division between the online and offline environments among young people.
The aim of the present study was to test whether teacher–student relationship (TSR) quality and student–student relationship (SSR) quality at class level and class moral disengagement (CMD), considered together in a single model, were related to class prevalence of victims (CPV) of bullying. A sample of 899 Swedish children was recruited from 43 elementary school classes. The participants filled out a questionnaire. Because the focus of the present study was on class behaviours, all analyses were conducted on aggregated class-level data. A path analysis revealed that the prevalence of victims was likely to be lower in classes with more positive teacher–student and SSRs and lower levels of CMD. TSR quality was not directly linked to CPV, but indirectly through its direct association with SSR quality. SSR quality was negatively associated with CMD and both were directly related to CPV. Results suggest that caring, supportive and warm SSRs in the class should be considered as a crucial protective factor against bullying victimisation. Further, the findings suggest that CMD has to be addressed in bullying prevention.
The purpose of the present study was to examine whether (repeated) exposure to cyberbullying as a bystander has an impact on early adolescents' moral evaluations in terms of a decrease in empathy and a shift towards a more tolerant attitude towards cyberbullying. A two-wave panel study with a 6-month time interval was conducted among a sample of 1412 adolescents aged 10-13. Cross-lagged panel analysis was used to investigate relationships over time between being a bystander of cyberbullying, empathic responsiveness towards distressed others, and the attitude towards cyberbullying, while taking into account involvement in cyberbullying as a victim or a perpetrator. The results indicate a negative relationship between standing by at Time 1 and empathic responsiveness at Time 2. In other words, exposure to cyberbullying as a bystander at Time 1 predicted subsequent lower levels of empathic responsiveness at Time 2. The attitude towards cyberbullying at Time 2 was not influenced by seeing more cyberbullying acts at Time 1. Further implications of the results for prevention and intervention, and for future research are discussed.
Impulsivity has a significant impact on behavior during adolescence. Moreover, previous research has shown associations between impulsivity (or low self-control) and perpetration and victimization of cyberbullying. However, the influence of impulsivity on bystander behavior has not been investigated yet, although bystanders play an important role in bullying situations. The present study examined the relationship between impulsivity and helping behavior in bystanders of cyberbullying. To predict the likelihood of helping a victim when witnessing cyberbullying, we collected self-reported data from a representative sample of 2309 pupils, aged 9 to 17. The results suggested that more impulsive adolescents were less likely to help the cybervictim. An explanation for the findings may be that helping behavior in a cyberbullying context requires inhibitory abilities which are deficit in impulsive adolescents. These findings could be used to inform intervention strategies about which factors are associated with bystander behavior in cyberbullying and how to target these.
This study is based on a national survey investigation of 968 educators, who reported the incidence of LGBTQ harassment in schools, and their advocacy efforts on behalf of this population. LGBTQ-related knowledge, attitudes, norms, and perceived ability to advocate were also assessed. Ninety percent of educators reported observing LGBTQ harassment and 30% consistently intervened. Overall, educators reported positive attitudes towards LGBTQ people, felt professionally supported, and ready for LGBTQ advocacy. Educators reported inadequate knowledge of LGBTQ identity development and desire for professional development. School counselors were more informed about LGBTQ issues and more aware of LGBTQ harassment than school psychologists or teachers.
This chapter analyzes the relationship between family and cyberbullying, a type of technological harassment among peers which is of growing concern in the scientific community and in today’s society. First, this chapter discusses factors associated with family functioning that may predict cyberbullying, particularly the family climate (cohesion, expressivity, and conflict) and parent–children communication. It also examines the role of parental socialization styles and their continuity with parental styles on the Internet: authoritarian style, laissez-faire, permissive and authoritative. In relation to parental styles, one section in this chapter describes the parental monitoring of Internet use and the various types of parental mediation strategies used by parents to control their children’s online behavior. The chapter ends with a section on preventing cyberbullying in the family itself. It concludes that parent–children communication helps create a positive family climate to implement emotionally suitable socialization styles and, in short, to prevent risky behaviors in children.
We investigated the role of intra-familial and extra-familial relationships in children’s and adolescents’ prosocial behavior. Due to the changing quality of family relationships in the process of growing up, we compared two developmental stages: middle childhood and middle adolescence. For intra-familial relationships, we assessed the affective relationship quality and the communicative quality between parents and within the parent-child dyad. For extra-familial relationships, we measured parental work experiences and the presence of social networks. Analyses are based on the data from two collection waves (2006, 2007) of the youngest cohort (6-year olds) and the middle cohort (15-year olds) of the Swiss Survey of Children andYouth (COCON). The results reveal that the relationship quality between parents predicts children’s prosocial behavior, whereas the communicative quality of the parent-child dyad is more important in adolescence. Parental work experiences and social networks predict prosocial behavior indirectly through the quality of affective relationships and the quality of communication within the family.
Bullying describes a subset of aggressive behavior defined by an imbalance of power between victim and perpetrator, by repeated aggressive acts and by a perpetrator’s intention to harm. The present chapter reviews findings on prevalence of bullying and relevant risk and protective factors discussed in the literature. It summarizes studies dealing with genetic, individual as well as social factors on narrow (e.g., peer group) and broad (e.g., school) contextual levels. Although not listed as a disorder, bullying experiences are clearly linked to risks for maladaptive psychological functioning. Therefore, available intervention and prevention efforts are presented and categorized according to evidence regarding their effectiveness.
This study investigated the extent of young adults’ (N = 393; 17–30 years old) experience of cyberbullying, from the perspectives of cyberbullies and cyber-victims using an online questionnaire survey. The overall prevalence rate shows cyberbullying is still present after the schooling years. No significant gender differences were noted, however females outnumbered males as cyberbullies and cyber-victims. Overall no significant differences were noted for age, but younger participants were found to engage more in cyberbullying activities (i.e. victims and perpetrators) than the older participants. Significant differences were noted for Internet frequency with those spending 2–5 h online daily reported being more victimized and engage in cyberbullying than those who spend less than an hour daily. Internet frequency was also found to significantly predict cyber-victimization and cyberbullying, indicating that as the time spent on Internet increases, so does the chances to be bullied and to bully someone. Finally, a positive significant association was observed between cyber-victims and cyberbullies indicating that there is a tendency for cyber-victims to become cyberbullies, and vice versa. Overall it can be concluded that cyberbullying incidences are still taking place, even though they are not as rampant as observed among the younger users.
In diesem Artikel wird der Forschungsfrage nachgegangen, welche sozialen Integrationschancen die so genannten "Bildungsverliererinnen" und "Bildungsverlierer" des deutschen Schulsystems haben und ob sich diese Jugendlichen von Schülerinnen und Schülern mit besserem Bildungszertifikat in ihren sozialen Desintegrationsängsten sowie feindseligen Mentalitäten unterscheiden. Untersucht werden insgesamt 1230 16-bis 21-jährige Heranwachsende aus unterschiedlichen Erhebungswellen der Gruppenbezogenen Menschenfeindlichkeits (GMF)-Studie der Universität Bielefeld. Die Befun-de der quantitativen Analysen zeigen, dass geringer qualifizierte weibliche und männliche Jugendli-che recht hoch durch Desintegrationsängste belastet sind. Es gibt jedoch eine überraschende Aus-nahme: Die Gruppe der Heranwachsenden ohne Schulabschluss äußert hier insgesamt weniger Be-denken. Darüber hinaus können die sozialen Desintegrationsbelastungen der befragten jungen Ge-neration mit problematischen Einstellungsmustern und Verhaltensbereitschaften in Verbindung ge-bracht werden. Zudem belegen die Befunde der Arbeit sowohl bei den Desintegrationseinschätzun-gen als auch hinsichtlich der bedenklichen gruppenbezogenen Vorurteile einige geschlechtsspezifi-sche Besonderheiten. How Integrated are Students with and without Graduation? Social Disintegration and its Possible Outcomes This article takes a closer look at the so-called "losers" of the educational system in Germany. For this purpose different groups of young people with and without higher graduation are examined. The dependent variables are social disintegration and prejudices towards different target groups. A sample of 1230 youths at the age of 16 – 21 has been drawn from different surveys of the Bielefeld Group-Focused Emnity study. According to the hypotheses the quantitative results show that those adolescents who are less qualified suffer from fear of disintegration. Surprisingly the group without any academic graduation suffers significantly less from strain of soci-al disintegration. Furthermore fear of disintegration can be linked to problematic attitudes and pro-blematic behaviour towards different target groups. Results of this work show as well gender speci-fic effects in prejudices towards target groups.
The U.S. Constitution is unique even among democratic nations for the guarantees it grants to U.S. citizens. The interpretation of the Constitution further distinguishes American notions of freedom and liberty from every other country in the world. The Internet Age, however, has ushered in a period where national boundaries and guarantees are blurred among the many intersections of the World Wide Web. This uncertainty has raised serious questions relating to the fundamental rights and liberties established by our forefathers: Can the United States maintain its guarantee of freedom of speech for the Internet? Who profits from such a guarantee? What are the implications for other nations if the United States ignores their pleas to rein in such guarantees? Given the nearly unanimous international institution of regulations restricting online hate speech, the United States stands alone in its support of free speech—including Internet hate speech. Because of such a stance, however, the United States may become a beacon of hope for hate-mongers around the world whose views are stifled by the restrictions on speech in their homelands. Will the United States become a haven for online hate speech by continuing to guarantee such speech near-absolute protection? This Note attempts to answer the above questions and examines the desirability of U.S. protection of hate speech on the Internet.
To understand the way children develop, Bronfenbrenner believes that it is necessary to observe their behavior in natural settings, while they are interacting with familiar adults over prolonged periods of time. His book offers an important blueprint for constructing a new and ecologically valid psychology of development.
Abstract Little attention has been given to whether adolescents' beliefs about anonymity and their normative beliefs about cyber aggression jointly increase their perpetration of cyber aggression. To this end, the present longitudinal study examined the moderating influence of these variables on the relationships among adolescents' attitudes toward the permanency of digital content, confidence with not getting caught, and anonymous cyber aggression (ACA) assessed 1 year later (Time 2). These associations were examined among 274 7th and 8th graders and through five technologies, including social networking sites (SNS), e-mail, instant messenger (IM), mobile phones, and chatrooms. Findings indicated that increases in Time 2 ACA and attitudes toward the permanency of digital content were more strongly related when adolescents reported greater confidence with not getting caught and higher normative beliefs concerning cyber aggression through SNS and mobile phones. In addition, higher levels of attitudes toward the permanency of digital content, confidence with not getting caught, beliefs about anonymity, and normative beliefs regarding cyber aggression were related to greater Time 2 ACA through e-mail, IM, and chatrooms. All findings are discussed in the context of adolescents' positive attitudes toward ACA, and an appeal for additional research is made to understand more about anonymity in cyberspace.
This investigation examined social acceptance and popularity as correlates of perceived social reputations and perceived dyadic relationships in a cross-sectional sample of 418 6th and 7th grade students (approximate average age of 12 years). We assessed early adolescents' social status using peer nominations and measured their perceptions of their social status, behavioral reputations, and friendships from a combination of self-ratings and peer nominations. Social acceptance was positively related to perceptions of social acceptance and friendships and negatively related to perceptions of rejection and a victimized reputation. Popularity was positively associated with perceptions of popularity, rejection, and an aggressive reputation and negatively associated with perceptions of unpopularity and a socially withdrawn reputation. Our results were, in general, consistent with the suggestion that social acceptance is related to perceiving facets of reputations and relationships relevant to forming and maintaining friendships whereas popularity is related to perceiving facets pertinent to gaining social power.
Seattle Public Schools has implemented policies and programs to increase safety, family involvement, and student achievement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. This case study examines students' perceptions of bullying and harassment in the school environment, and teacher intervention when these problems arise in the presence of strong district policies and programs aimed at reducing LGBTQ bullying and harassment in schools.
We surveyed students in Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) groups at 13 secondary schools (N = 107). We also conducted focus groups with GSA students and students not involved in the GSAs in 7 of 13 schools (N = 16 groups, including 154 students).
GSA students who were lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning (LGBQ) were significantly more likely than straight students to experience several types of harassment. On the basis of student report, the 2 most common intervention strategies by teachers for verbal harassment included stopping the harassment and explaining why it is wrong; teachers intervened in physical harassment by trying to stop the harassment. Students provided input on how to strengthen teacher interventions, including the need for more consistency in responding and following up. Students also noted a need for more focus on educating those who harass, rather than just asking them to stop.
Seattle Public Schools has made great strides in creating safe and welcoming schools for LGBTQ students, but still have to work further toward reaching this goal. Data from students on how they experience their school environment can help identify areas for improvement.
It is well recognised that there are serious correlates for victims of traditional bullying. These have been shown to include increased levels of depression, anxiety and psychosomatic symptoms, in addition to often severe physical harm and even suicide. Bullied students also feel more socially ineffective and have greater interpersonal difficulties, together with higher absenteeism from school and lower academic competence. In the emerging field of cyberbullying many researchers have hypothesised a greater impact and more severe consequences for victims because of the 24/7 nature and the possibility of the wider audience with this form of bullying. However, to date there is scarce empirical evidence to support this. This study sought to compare victims' perceptions of the harshness and impact of bullying by traditional and cyber means. The major findings showed that although students who had been victimised by traditional bullying reported that they felt their bullying was harsher and crueller and had more impact on their lives than those students who had been cyberbullied, the correlates of their mental health revealed that cybervictims reported significantly more social difficulties, and higher levels of anxiety and depression than traditional victims. The implications for school counsellors and mental health workers are discussed.