Is intimate partner abuse normalised in the digital world?

Abstract

Research has shown coercive control and stalking are integral concepts to understanding intimate partner abuse (IPA). Attitudes towards IPA in the real world and digital world have been shown to differ and digital IPA as harder to recognise. The digital nature of the abuse is suggested to alter judgements of its appropriateness, normalising the behaviours. This study aims to determine if IPA (conceptualised as coercive control and stalking) has been normalised in the digital world. This study’s quantitative methods found that stalking behaviours were considered more appropriate in the digital world than the real world, which was assumed to mean they had been normalised. Thematic analysis explored attitudes towards digital IPA and how it was conceptualised. Limitations of the study and future implications are discussed.