Bullying takes many forms. The most recent one is the so-called cyber bullying; when the Internet and mobile phones are used to put forward derogative and defamatory information on a person. Bullying in cyberspace is the subject of Helga Lind Pálsdóttir’s MA thesis in Social Work.
“The aim of the research was to examine adolescents’ understanding and knowledge on bullying in cyberspace and how it manifests in daily lives,” says Pálsdóttir, but her study is the first one in Iceland that is made from the perspective of adolescents. Pálsdóttir points out that electronic bullying is often treated the same as conventional bullying, but that it is vital to make a distinction between the two. Pálsdóttir mentions as an example “it is fairly easy to count how often an incident has occurred in traditional bullying and hence define it as repetitive behaviour. This is not the case with cyber bullying. The nature of the internet is such that material is accessible to many and is quickly distributed between people. Thus an incident that was made to be a one time act on behalf of the bully can turn into a repetitive harm and harassment for the target.”
During her research Pálsdóttir visited two elementary schools and took group interviews with teenage students. Her inquiries revealed for example that cyber bullying is mostly done through media where the bully can remain anonymous; such as the social network formspring.me and anonymous text messages. “The results point, furthermore, to the fact that teen-agers have limited knowledge and understanding of cyber bullying and that further education is needed. The research shows that anonymity associated with cyber bullying may be an important deciding factor and the main reason adolescents are the target of, or participants in, cyber bullying. The anonymity also complicates both how to address cyber bullying and its consequences,” adds Pálsdóttir.
“It is important, in my view, that parents, school authorities, teachers, social workers and other professionals that work with children and adolescents be better acquainted with material on cyber bullying and find ways to fight it systematically,” concludes Pálsdóttir.
Supervisors: Halldór S. Guðmudsson, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Social Work, and Kristrún Birgisdóttir specialist in the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture.
