Cyberbulling - A Study

Veronika Sleglova, A. C. (2011). Cyberbulling in Adolescent Victims: Perception and Coping. Retrieved from Journal of Psychology Research of Cyberspace: http://www.cyberpsychology.eu/view.php?cisloclanku=2011121901&article=4

            Veronika Sleglova and Alena Cerna (2011) discuss the impacts of Cyberbulling victims, how it impacts their lives, and how victims cope. 

They explain the definition of cyberbulling, which they claim it still debated by researches, worldwide.  The writers of this paper define it “as an aggressive, intentional act or behavior that is carried out by a group or an individual repeatedly and over time against a victim who cannot easily defend him or herself” (Sleglova and Cerna, 2011).  The purpose the paper is discuss the people who are behind cyberbulling, the stessors associated with the act, the reasons that victims become the victims, and the various coping strategies that the victims use.          

Sleglova and Cerna successfully discuss the impacts, including the resulting “negative emotions caused by bullying”, the “feelings of helplessness”, the “distrust of other people”, the impact of “lowering self-confidence”, and the resulting of the bullied becoming the bullyer.  There are different ways in which victims can cope with a cyberbully.  These include contacting the administer of the websites, ending the communication with the bully, blocking the bully, support groups, and participating in activities that do not include Internet activities.  Their study was very comprehensive and they were able to get their point across with interviews and research

            Sleglova and Cerna concluded that their study was limited due to the size and victims unable to talk about their personal experiences with cyberbullying.  However, I believe that their research was very compelling.  They actually used the Internet to interview most of the victims in order to protect them.  They also state that they had limitation in the study because it was “situated in the Czech cultural context” (Sleglova and Cerna, 2011).   

            The strongest argument that I find interesting is that victims who have a stronger family relationship have better ways of coping and are able to communicate their situation better.  The writers used a lot of research and data collection, which took approximately 3 months.  They used ICQ and Skype for interviews.  Sleglova and Cerna included basic information about the respondents, examples of the coding, and a Paradigmatic model of copying strategies and the impacts of cyberbulling.  They conclusion was that many vicitims cope in various ways and that the connection is between the victim and the bully.