Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Education (Educational Psychology) in the Department of Educational Psychology & Special Education Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2012. / Cyberbullying is a new form of bullying and harassment that is also referred to as electronic or online bullying. It may involve the following: sending mean, vulgar or threatening messages or images, posting sensitive or private information online, pretending to be someone else online in order to make a person look bad or intentionally exclude a person from an online group. Viewed as covert psychological bullying conveyed through electronic means it has been identified as the most problematic form of emerging cruelty among adolescents in schools. Existing research studies on cyberbullying suggests that it is increasing at a phenomenal rate and it is not clear whether online perpetrators and victims possess the same characteristic behaviours and psychosocial profiles as their traditional bullying counterparts. However in South Africa there is a paucity of research. The present study seeks to examine the behavioural and psychosocial factors associated with cyberbullying among Grade 8 to 10 learners, in a cross-section of schools, in KwaZulu-Natal. The purpose of the research was to determine: the prevalence of cyberbullying; the relationship between age, gender, rural and urban dichotomy and socioeconomic status of victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying; school personnel’s management of cyberbullying; and the relationship between psychosocial factors and behavioural characteristics and cyberbullying. Two questionnaires were used. The first was a 3-part psychosocial questionnaire and the other a cyberbullying questionnaire (Riebel, Jager, & Fischer, 2008). The data from this study confirms that cyberbullying is prevalent in various forms, in secondary schools, in KwaZulu-Natal. The total sample was N=450. Of which 199 (44.22%) reported that they were victims or perpetrators of cyberbullying. There were 127 (28.22%) who identified themselves as victims and 72 (16.0 %) admitted to be perpetrators. The most frequent form of cyberbullying experienced was rumours and slander using the internet or cellular phone. The electronic communication preferences of participants were: instant messaging (50%); 47% used social networking; about 44% used chatrooms and 32% used email. Females spent more time in chatrooms and sent more instant messages than the males. The results show that friends and fellow learners were responsible for the cyberbullying most frequently. The victims rarely choose to reveal that they were cyberbullied to their teachers. Participants chose their friends as the primary person to talk to about their victimisation while the secondary person was their parents. Teachers were the last person of choice to seek help. Comparison of victims, non-victims, perpetrators and non-perpetrators of cyberbullying on the Life Satisfaction Scale (LSS), indicated that victims of cyberbullying were the most dissatisfied group (9.83%) while perpetrators reported high satisfaction. There was a significant difference between victims and non-victims on their performance on the psychological well-being scale and this was also the case for perpetrators and nonperpetrators of cyberbullying. Victims did not like themselves; expressed a poor sense of self, low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence and had more negative self-perceptions which affected their psychological well-being. They expressed feeling of helplessness, loneliness, sadness, despair, anger, and self loathing. Perpetrators also had strong feelings of worthlessness, guilt, sadness and hopelessness. They were tearful and expressed a loss of interest in daily activities, experienced difficulty cThe behavioural characteristics described by the groups showed considerable variations. Victims of cyberbullying rated themselves highest on being serious and they rated themselves lower on being friendly, emotional, stubborn and happy. Perpetrators of cyberbullying rated themselves highest on being aggressive, nervous, stubborn, happy, awkward and sad. Victims and perpetrators had experienced more difficulty learning to read and were in trouble more often in school than the non-victims and non-perpetrators. Cyberbullying is prevalent in South African secondary schools, among Grade 8, Grade 9 and Grade 10 learners and occurs among males and females, from rich and poor backgrounds, rural and urban areas irrespective of racial and ethnic backgrounds. Implications of these results are discussed with special focus on intervention and management of cyberbullying concentrating on school work and expressed a lack of enthusiasm and motivation.

This research examines the relationship between status and cyberbullying among U.S. adolescents. It distinguishes between several status variables and three categories of involvement in cyberbullying: bullies, victims, and non-participants. Utilizing Milner's (2016) theory of status relations, it was hypothesized that cyberbullying is a means by which high school students attempt to gain status among their peers and enforce the status hierarchy of their schools. The more rigid the differentiation between peer groups in a high school, the more likely there would be cyberbullying present. In addition, this research examined if any differences in cyberbullying existed based on the location of the high school in an urban or rural area. Using a multinomial logistic regression to analyze survey data collected from a university in southwest Virginia, partial support for Milner's (2016) theory was found as some status variables, in particular social association, group mobility, and individual mobility, were related to cyberbullying, but no significant results were found by location type. This research contributes a to new theoretical framework for examining cyberbullying and advances the discussion on the influence of peers in cyberbullying, which can impact prevention and intervention efforts aimed at curbing cyberbullying among adolescents. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation examines the effects of popularity and peer groups on cyberbullying among US adolescents. Milner (2016) argued that popularity matters in his theory of status relations and implied the more peer groups were differentiated in a school, the more likely bullying was present in the school. Milner (2016) argued bullying was one way students tried to gain popularity in a school setting. However, Milner's (2016) theory has never been tested. This research tests Milner's (2016) to see if it can explain cyberbullying among U.S. youth. College students at a university in southwest Virginia were surveyed about their cyberbullying experiences in high school and asked about popularity of different groups and themselves. Using statistical methods, the data was analyzed and found some support for the assertion that popularity and peer groups matter when it comes to cyberbullying. In addition, this dissertation examined if the location of the high school (urban, suburban, town or rural) impacted cyberbullying, but no support was found for this hypothesis.

Syftet med den här studien är att, genom att kontrollera sambandet mellan ungdomars Internetanvändning och deras åsikter kring hur ungdomar bör uttrycka sig på Internet, undersöka vilken typ av Internetanvändare som är mer eller mindre sannolik att acceptera, utföra eller utsättas för aggressiva/provocerande beteenden på Internet. Studien utfördes genom en kvantitativ enkätundersökning där 139 gymnasieelever från en medelstor stad i Hallands län fick svara på frågor om deras Internetvanor och deras åsikter kring beteenden på Internet. Därefter utfördes olika statistiska test i SPSS för att undersöka sambandet mellan deltagarnas Internetanvändning och deras åsikter om beteenden på Internet. Studien kom fram till att det finns ett samband mellan ungdomars aggressiva/provocerande beteenden på Internet och hur ungdomar använder Internet. Studien visar även ett samband mellan ungdomars utsatthet for aggressiva/provocerande beteenden och hur de använder Internet. Dessutom visar studien att ungdomar uppfattar sig själva generellt som bättre uppträdande än andra ungdomar, men anser varken att andra ungdomar uttrycker sig aggressivt/provocerande eller särskilt välbemötande. / The purpose of this study is the investigate adolescents’ opinions concerning online behaviors to find out whether they accept, use or are victims of aggressive/provocative behaviors online. By investigating the connection between adolescents’ use of Internet and their opinions of how other adolescents should behave online the study aims to find out which type of user is more likely to engage in aggressive/provocative behaviors online. A quantitative survey was carried out on 139 upper secondary school students at a school in an average sized city in Halland’s county. The participants answered questions concerning their online habits and their opinions about online behavior. To analyze the results the computer program SPSS was used in order to investigate the connection between the participants’ online habits and their opinions about online behavior. The study concluded that there is a connection between upper secondary students’ aggressive/provocative behaviors online and their online habits. The study also shows that there is a connection between adolescent’s exposure to these kinds of behaviors and their Internet habits. Finally, the study shows that adolescents’ interpret themselves as less aggressive/provocative than their peers, although they interpret other adolescents’ as neither aggressive/provocative nor particularly polite.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka vad kuratorer har för erfarenheter när det kommer till barn och ungdomars användande av sociala medier. Ser de några risker med att vara online? Studien baserades på en kvalitativ metod med individuella semistrukturerade intervjuer som har utförts med kuratorer inom grundskola, gymnasium och ungdomsmottagning. Den tillämpade teoretiska tolkningsramen är en teori av John Suler, som kan ge oss en förklaring till varför man på internet agerar mer hämningslöst. Studiens resultat visade att det finns risker med användandet av sociala medier inom flera aspekter. För att nämna några, finns risker som att bli utsatt för kränkningar, mobbning och sexuella trakasserier när man befinner sig online. Enligt vår mening kan studiens resultat bidra till en ökad kunskap kring detta fenomen samt ge oss fördjupade kunskaper ur ett nytt perspektiv, kuratorernas. / The study aimed to investigate what counselors have for experience when it comes to children and young people's use of social media. Do they see any risks of being online? The study is based on a qualitative approach with individual semi-structured interviews that were conducted with counselors in primary- and secondary schools and youth counseling. The applied theoretical interpretative framework is a theory of John Suler, which can give us an explanation of why they on the internet act more uninhibited. The study results show us that there are risks associated with the use of social media in several aspects. To name a few, there are risks of being exposed to abuse, bullying and sexual harassment when you are online. In our opinion, the study's findings contribute to an increased knowledge of this phenomenon and give us deeper knowledge from a new perspective, the counselor.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur stor erfarenhet svenska studenter har av, och hur stor rädsla de har för, nättroll. Ett annat syfte var att undersöka om erfarenheten har ett samband med deras eventuella rädsla för nättroll. Studien ämnar även undersöka vad svenska studenter har för definition av nättroll. Datainsamlingen utgjordes av en elektronisk enkät bestående av en självkonstruerad Likertskala (Troll-Likert) som distribuerades via webbplattformen survey & report. Skalan har aldrig tidigare använts i annat forskningssyfte. Deltagarantalet var 93 studenter. För att undersöka och analysera resultatet användes såväl kvantitativ som kvalitativ metod. Till den kvantitativa delen användes Spearmans rangkorrelationskoefficient och en enkel regressionsanalys. I fråga om den kvalitativa delen användes tematisk analys enligt Braun och Clarke (2006). Resultatet av studien visade att studenterna både hade en hög erfarenhet och rädsla för nättroll. Regressionsanalysen resulterade i ett värde på r2= 0,120. Spearmans resultat visade på en signifikant korrelation mellan rädsla och erfarenhet och regressionslinjen visade att studenternas rädsla kan till 12% förklaras av deras erfarenhet. Den tematiska analysen resulterade i ett tema som sammanfattar respondenternas definitioner av nättroll: personer som provocerar fram reaktioner för nöjes skull. / The purpose of this study was to investigate whether Swedish students have experience of, and / or fear of, online trolls. Also, if there was a connection between them two. The study also intended to investigate what definition of online trolls Swedish students had. The data collection was made up of an electronic questionnaire consisting of a self-designed Likert scale (Troll-Likert) distributed via the web survey & report. The questionnaire has never been used for any other research purposes. The number of participants was 93 students. To investigate the results both a quantitative and a qualitative method were used. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and a regression analysis were used as in the quantitative method and a thematic analysis according to Braun and Clarke (2006) was used in the qualitative method. The study showed that the students both had a high experience and fear of online trolls. The regression analysis resulted in a value of r2 = 0.120. Spearman's results showed a significant correlation between fear and experience and the regression line showed that the students' fear can be explained to 12% by their experience. The thematic analysis resulted in one theme which summarizes the respondents' definitions of online trolls: people who provoke reactions for pleasure

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