Speakers
Description
This symposium emphasises the importance of context in shaping the construction and understanding of (cyber)bullying, suggesting that it does not exist in a vacuum. The presentations highlight the cultural, racial, social-economic and digital forces that shape such behaviour. The entanglement of analogue and digital spaces creates unique challenges, as young people navigate these environments with differing norms and expectations.
The symposium advances the diversity of childhood experiences, suggesting that there is no single, universal understanding or experience of (cyber)bullying. Rather, it is deeply embedded in specific contexts.
This interdisciplinary contribution illustrates the significance of using diverse methodological tools to approach multi-faceted contexts. Drawing upon studies conducted in Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, and Italy, as well as multi-level analysis across two large-scale datasets—EUKO and HBSC—the presentations aim to acknowledge the challenges of researching (cyber)bullying in varied circumstances, along with the theoretical and methodological limitations that emerge as a result.
By emphasising the need for a contextualised approach, the symposium advocates for more culturally sensitive and intersectional strategies in both research and intervention. It calls for the development of anti-bullying practices that consider the diverse realities of children’s lives, acknowledging that different contexts - socio-economic, cultural, racial, familial - shape how (cyber)bullying is experienced and addressed. Ultimately, this symposium urges a shift from one-size-fits-all approaches to solutions that are informed by the specific circumstances of young people’s environments.
Keywords
- Cyberbullying
- Young people
- Parental involvement
- Socio-cultural
- Intersectionality
Additional field for symposia
Within-country inconsistencies of (cyber)bullying prevalence in cross-national datasets: What role do different bullying definitions play? - Shan Hu, University of Stavanger Norwegian Centre for Learning Environment and Behavioral Research in Education, shan.hu@uis.no
Previous research documented substantial within-country discrepancies in prevalence rates of (cyber)bullying victimization when comparing the results of different cross national large-scale surveys. One explanation for these discrepancies is the use of different measurement approaches across these surveys. This study examines whether the type of bullying definition can shed light on the observed within-country discrepancies. Data from 19 overlapping countries in two large scale datasets: EUKO (EU Kids Online) and HBSC (Health Behaviour in School-aged Children) were used, covering 19 overlapping countries with a sample size of 123,206 students aged 10-16. EUKO and HBSC differ in their definitions of bullying. Multilevel analyses were conducted in Mplus using Bayesian estimation. Results indicated no average effect of the study type on prevalence rates of (cyber)bullying and (cyber)victimization across all countries. However, when controlling for age and gender, HBSC showed a higher prevalence of traditional bullying compared to EUKO. Additionally, after controlling for sample characteristics (age and gender), and study design (the average age of the participants, the proportion of girls, and the sampling method), there were no significant effects of study type on prevalence rates across countries, except for cybervictimization. It can be concluded that instead of definition, country-specific factors play a substantial role in influencing prevalence rates. This study suggests value in a post-hoc investigation to see if patterns emerge based on country type and highlights the importance of more flexible measurement approaches that account for country-specific variations.
Interconnected Spaces: How Socio-Economic Contexts Shape Young People's Understanding of (Cyber)Bullying Across Physical and Digital Worlds - Isabel Machado Da Silva, DCU Anti-Bullying Centre, School of Human Development, isabel.machadodasilva@dcu.ie
This presentation highlights the role of socio-economic and cultural contexts in shaping (cyber)bullying behaviours, as well as the diverse digital spaces that young people inhabit in informing and influencing their identities and social interactions.
As schools are increasingly asked to address online safety, a broader understanding of how (cyber)bullying stretches across physical and digital spaces is needed. By exploring how these intersecting spaces impact social dynamics within schools, this study sheds light on how (cyber)bullying behaviours emerge, evolve, and are understood across different socio-economic and cultural contexts.
Based on early findings from an ethnographic study in two schools situated in different socio-economic contexts in Ireland, this presentation offers insights into how young people’s experiences and understandings of (cyber)bullying are embedded within their physical and digital social environments. The complex interplay between the socio-economic contexts, along with the different digital spaces and norms create distinct landscapes where diverse forms of (cyber)bullying can take root. In this way, young people’s identities and social positions are constructed and negotiated across unique and specific environments, where certain norms and behaviours are reinforced while others are challenged.
Theoretically, this research draws on Rothberg’s (2019) figure of the implicated subject, which offers a lens to view young people not merely in static roles of "victim," "perpetrator," or "bystander" but as social actors implicated in complex networks of interaction. This approach offers nuanced insights into how social structures, cultural values, and power dynamics perpetuate (cyber)bullying. This theoretical approach is especially relevant for fostering our understanding of the broader social forces that enable (cyber)bullying to expand within a society increasingly shaped by digital transformations. It allows for an enormous potential in de-constructing and transforming the structural injustices that are at the heart of (cyber)bullying.
Implications for practice highlights the need for anti-bullying strategies that are sensitive to the specific socio-economic, cultural and digital contexts that shape a multitude of diverse childhoods, thereby addressing the specific factors that shape (cyber)bullying behaviours in both physical and digital spaces. This is particularly important as current anti-bullying interventions often struggle to tackle the multifold co-existence of (cyber)bullying in between physical and digital spaces (Bork-Hüffer, Mahlknecht, and Kaufmann 2021) - and how this interconnection shapes young people’s sense of belonging and othering.
Parents’ Childhood Bullying Experience and the Advice They Give Their Children - Anastasiia PetrovaUniversity of Turku, Faculty of Social Sciences, anastasiia.petrova@utu.fi
Studies show positive parental engagement can prevent bullying and help children mitigate its consequences. Parents can engage by advising their children on handling bullying and victimisation, often drawing on their own life experiences. Personal stories and opinions about effective strategies differ between mothers and fathers, former victims and bullies, ethnic minority and majority groups. These diverse perspectives can support the development of more inclusive parental guidelines and anti-bullying programs. This study examines the types of advice parents give their children regarding bullying and victimisation and whether this advice varies by parents' individual characteristics. We used data from the CHALLENGE project (N=2,162), which targeted parents of children in Finnish primary schools. Parents reported how likely they were to suggest strategies such as ignoring, seeking help, and retaliation for victims, and empathy and condemnation for bullies. We also asked about their own school bullying experiences. For advice given to victims, fathers tend to suggest ignoring strategies more than mothers. Parents who were former bullies are more likely to tell their children to ignore bullies than those who were not. A similar trend appears between ethnic minority and majority parents. Regarding advice for bullies, fathers tend to be less condemning than mothers. Former bullies also show less condemning behaviour than those who were not bullies. Ethnic minority parents also tend to be less condemning than ethnic majority parents. This research highlights the crucial need to consider various parental perspectives and historical bullying experiences when examining parental influence on school bullying.
Parents´ situated experiences with gendered discourses in relation to their children's involvement in online bullying -
Deniz Celikoglu, DCU Anti-Bullying Centre, School of Media and Communication, deniz.celikoglu@dcu.ie ;
Giorgia Scuderi, Danish School of Education, Aarhus University, gscu@edu.au.dk
The presentation aims to share insights from case studies investigating parents´ contextual experiences with gendered discourses in relation to their children's exploration of their perceived identities and becoming, and engagement in (online) bullying.
The study builds on post-structuralist theories, drawing primarily from key concepts of power and discursive practices as theorised by Foucault (1976, 1980), and further developed by Davies (1990) and Barad (2007), alongside Butler’s (2007) exploration of performativity. Moreover, we aim to reflect on parents' experiences through intersectionality, considering factors like socioeconomic status, cultural background, religious beliefs, gender, and their intra-actions.
The arguments are based on findings from two qualitative inquiries conducted in Ireland and Italy with parents of young people aged between 11 and 17 years old. The studies include semi-structured interviews and workshop-based focus groups.
The findings reveal that parents are challenged by their children's search for belonging and values in online environments. The young people engaged in our studies are drawn to online communities that offer them a sense of comfort and belonging, exposing them to content tailored to appeal to their needs. However, these do not always align with parents’ values and dominant norms in specific sociocultural contexts, affecting also (online) bullying dynamics.
Our analysis opens a reflection on the complex dimensions of gender construction and the implications for understanding parenthood and its impact on young people's becoming. It challenges categorical conceptualizations of 'parents' in online bullying research, and urges for a more layered understanding that reflects the intersectionality of various forces.
Black Culture and Afrophobia: (De)Construction of Bullying in Communities of Practice - Kainaat Maqbool, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Department of Communication and Media Studies, kmaqbool@media.uoa.gr
Over the years, the phenomenon of cultural forces shaping the actions and reactions of the youth in the communities of practice (Hall, 1997) has gained traction. The signifying practices are produced and pushed into the society through various social actors following the prescribed manifestations, ouvert and couvert, of acceptable behaviours. By examining the case study of Afrophobia projected through Racial (Cyber)bullying onto the AfroGreek youth, this presentation aims to recognize the role of social and cultural frames of reference in shaping values and perceptions. Youth model attitudes they learn within the popular cultural milieu, demonstrating the intersectional nature of race, ethnicity, politics of identity, culture, and gender in (cyber)bullying experiences.
By investigating the influence of a fluid and multifaceted landscape, this presentation brings to the fore how marginalised groups are subject to unique forms of victimisation that often extend beyond the standard definition and measurements of (cyber)bullying. This (de)construction reveals that cultural narratives, historical influences, and power imbalances, in any one setting, contribute to a nuanced, contextualised form of aggression that may not align with traditional understandings of bullying.
The analysis invites the need for culturally sensitive approaches and minority-based practices in researching bullying behaviours. Ultimately, it advocates for a paradigm shift: moving towards a culturally informed understanding of bullying using the lived experiences of diverse individuals and communities as the terminus a quo. Finally, this presentation asks for a re-evaluation of interventions, encouraging strategies that acknowledge reflection on the layered realities of underrepresented groups.
| Please also indicate what kind of contribution it is: | Mixed |
|---|---|
| Please indicate what type of scientific contribution it is | Not applicable |
