Cyberbullying is a unique form of digital abuse, he says.
By Dileep Thekkethil
Indian American researcher Sameer Hinduja, an expert in cyberbullying, has received a grant of $188,776 from the Digital Trust Foundation, founded by Facebook to collect data of cyberbullying and incidents related to teen dating violence in the United States.
The proliferation of social media and other internet-based services after the outburst of Web 2.0 technology has resulted in the rise of cyberbullying incidents, not only in the US but also across the globe.
Hinduja, who holds a PhD, is a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the Florida Atlantic University. His research topic is closely related to the far-reaching impact of cyberbullying and electronic dating services in the US, its frequency and scope among the youth population.
“Cyberbullying is a unique form of digital abuse that involves a range of tormenting, humiliating, threatening, embarrassing and harassing behaviors and has gained a lot of attention in recent years,” Hinduja was quoted as saying in a story posted on the university’s website.
He added, “Many teens across the United States also experience dating violence that typically consists of various forms of mistreatment from insults and rumor spreads to threats and physical assaults.”
As part of the research, Hinduja along with his associate Justin Patchin, who also holds a PhD in the subject, will create a panel of teens aged between 12 and 17 years old. They will be surveyed with the consent of their parents. Apart from collecting the basic details of the teens such as age, gender, grade and other important demographics, Hinduja and his team will also collect data about the factors that contribute to the perpetration and victimization of teens with special emphasis on the negative outcomes of cyberbullying.
According to researchers, there is a striking similarity between cyberbullying and electronic dating violence; both are greatly influenced by the emotional, psychological, physical and behavioural state of the perpetrator and the victim.
Cases of cyberbullying are largely reported in individuals who are introverts, people who do not want to engage with others. On the other hand, dating violence is common among people who are attracted to each other in at least one aspect.
Hinduja and his team believe that by collecting data from a large number of student representatives from across the country the research can draw better conclusions as it is not confining the samples (here students) from on particular school.
Hinduja elaborated: “Most previous studies have focused on local schools or school districts as data sources. This leads to a key methodological limitation — the potential lack of generalizability — which can be addressed with a nationally-representative replication. Moreover, the few nationally-representative data sources that have been analysed are woefully out of date.”
The result of the research will be published through blogs and fact sheets posted on the Cyberbullying Research Center website, as well as through peer review journals and academic and professional conference presentations.
During the course of the research, Hinduja and Patchin will work closely with parenting and educator groups, policymakers, legal scholars and legislators. The data formulated through the research is expected to enrich evidence that could further our understanding about Cyberbullying and electronic dating violence.
“The average across all of these studies was remarkably similar to the rates found in our work — about 21 percent of teens have been cyberbullied and about 15 percent admitted to cyberbullying others at some point in their lifetimes,” said Hinduja.
“Taken as a whole, it seems safe to conclude that about one out of every four teens has experienced cyberbullying, and about one out of every six teens has done it to others,” he added
Hinduja is the recipient of Global Anti-Bullying Hero Award, instituted by Auburn University for efforts and contribution on anti-bullying. He recently spoke on the Capitol Hill about cyberbullying and teen dating violence during a Congressional Briefing.