Cyberbullying

“Bullying” refers to abusive relationships, where there are repeated, intentionally hurtful actions directed against a victim (or victims) who is in a less powerful situation and thus not able to defend themselves effectively. It has been studied now for some 30 years (Olweus, 1978; Smith et al., 1999), especially among school pupils; but the abuse of power can always be a temptation, and bullying is found across age groups and in many contexts (Monks et al., 2009). It is known that forms of bullying can be physical, verbal, and psychological; direct and indirect.

Only this century however has a new major form of bullying become noticeable, often called cyberbullying. This encompasses bullying by mobile phones, and the Internet, in many different guises (e.g., text messages, video-clips, e-mails, websites, and virtual worlds). Cyberbullying has some similarities to traditional forms of bullying, but also important differences. It appears to be a growing phenomenon, with a need for research to help us understand the nature of cyberbullying, its effects, and ways of coping with it at an individual and institutional level. Fortunately, this research effort is growing rapidly, as this Special Issue helps to demonstrate.

Many psychological researchers in the area of what is now often called “traditional” bullying have moved into researching cyberbullying; plus, it has attracted new researchers, some from other disciplines such as information technology or legal studies (Shariff, 2008). Although research on traditional bullying originated in Europe, much early research on cyberbullying has come from the USA (Kowalski, Limber, & Agatston, 2008). However this area is already an international one (Li, Cross, & Smith, in press), with much happening in Europe (see the Research Activities entries, this issue; Katzer, 2009, for Germany).

Much of the work on cyberbullying focuses on school-aged children and young people, and indeed this does seem to be the age period where it is most prevalent (Sevcikova & Smahel, 2009). However, it also occurs in adult life, and beyond simple mobile phone and e-mail contexts. Coyne, Chesney, Logan, and Madden (2009) consider what is called “griefing” in virtual world communities.

The nature of the differences between cyberbullying and traditional bullying is intriguing, with the potential for giving insight into motivations for cyberbullying and relevant for intervention programs. This aspect underlies the first four articles in this Special Issue. Dooley, Pyżalski, and Cross (2009) consider some of these differences, relating to definitional issues such as repetition and power imbalance in the cyber context; they then venture into a discussion of social information processing factors that distinguish cyberbullying. Spears, Slee, Owens, and Johnson (2009) provide qualitative data that give us some further insights into aspects such as power imbalance and feelings of helplessness in victims. The emotional impact on victims of four types of bullying (two traditional and two cyber) is explored in detail by Ortega, Elipe, Mora-Merchán, Calmaestra, and Vega (2009). Gradinger, Strohmeier, and Spiel (2009) examine some risk factors for involvement in cyberbullying, as well as the overlap between traditional and cyberbullying and victimization; Schultze-Krumbholz and Scheithauer (2009) also examine some socio-emotional correlates of cyberbullying.

This new area of study raises important methodological issues, both definitional and measurement, two aspects that are clearly related. Menesini and Nocentini (2009) offer some thoughts on these matters. It is hoped that this Special Issue will give a flavor of the range of topics and methodologies being employed in this rather new area of study, and that it will provide a stimulus for further debate and help us to develop constructive strategies for dealing with what is likely to become an increasingly important social problem.