The Nature of Cyber Bullying Behaviours

Background

Interest in understanding victimisation experiences and bullying behaviours was initially prompted by Olweus’ work in the 1970s and subsequently by the wealth of research evidence that has reported longitudinal relationships between experiences of bullying and wellbeing and adjustment (e.g., Fergusson, Boden, & Horwood, 2014; Ttofi, Bowes, Farrington, & Lösel, 2014; Wolke, Copeland, Angold, & Costello, 2013). Together, these studies have suggested that negative consequences may occur for those individuals who engage in bullying behaviour and those who experience victimisation.

Cyber bullying involves individuals using technology as a medium to bully others (Smith, 2009) and has been defined as “the use of the Internet or other digital communication devices to insult or threaten someone” (Juvonen & Gross, 2008, p. 498). Following a recent review and meta-analysis of existing cyber bullying literature, cyber bullying was defined as: “(a) intentional aggressive behaviour that is (b) carried out repeatedly, (c) occurs between a perpetrator and victim who are unequal in power, and (d) occurs through electronic technologies” (Kowalski, Giumetti, Schroeder, & Lattanner, 2014, p. 37). Understanding young people experiences of cyber bullying is important because it has been regarded as an “emerging international public health concern” (Nixon, 2014, p154).