Sociological dimensions of cyberbullying: essence, consequences, and coping strategies

Abstract

The authors of the article based on a review of scientific sources, documents of international organizations, and legislation conducted a comparative analysis of different approaches to the definition of cyberbullying. According to the authors, cyberbullying is individual or group actions of aggression or violence against the individual, harassment using information technology, e-mail, messengers, chats, social networks, websites, mobile phones in order to humiliate, intimidate or cause moral harm. In contrast to traditional bullying, in cyberbullying the advantage of physical strength and higher social status becomes unimportant, while the uneven distribution of technological power increases, time and space constraints disappear, and the emotional threshold of social reactions reduces. Pupils and students are the first to be at risk of being victims of aggression on the Internet. Based on a review of foreign sources, strategies for minimizing and overcoming the negative consequences of cyberbullying at various levels — individual, organizational, institutional and systemic (legal and moral norms) — are considered. According to the authors, cyberbullying is a component of the broader concept of cyberviolence, which includes both proactive and reactive aggressiveness. Based on the data of the research “Prevention of violence against women in online resources during the elections in Ukraine”, it was found that the use of various forms of online violence against women in Ukraine is a common and destructive factor that has a very negative impact on their participation in political life. In this context cyberbullying is based upon historically determined socio-cultural stereotypes, as well as prejudices and myths about the social roles and opportunities of women to participate in civic and political life.