Victimization

Not all groups are equally likely to be subject to acts of aggression; specific subgroups are more likely to be victimized. For example, youth who identify as a sexual minority are more likely to be victims of traditional forms of bullying than their heterosexual friends. There has been less research, however, on population subgroups and the likelihood of becoming a victim of cyber aggression. In exploring this topic, this chapter examines several questions including, “How important is the amount of time spent online as an intermediate variable in predicting whether an individual will become a victim of cyber aggression?” and “Does sexual orientation impact the likelihood of being a victim of cyberaggression above and beyond the amount of time spent online?” Multivariate statistical methods and survey data from the Pew Research Center for the year 2014 was used in this analysis.

Policing Online Aggression

Research argues that to address bullying/cyberbullying it will take the larger school community including teachers, families, health professionals, etc. The same can be said for other forms of aggression. This chapter provides an overview of the literature on what each member of the larger community can do to curtail the spread of online aggression. The chapter concludes by examining the effectiveness of recommendations for individuals for protecting themselves from becoming victims of online aggression as well as strategies for parents to protect their children from becoming victims of cyberbullying. Multivariate statistical methods and survey data from the PEW Research Center for the years 2013 and 2014 were used in this analysis.

Community Programs

The United States has a federal system. One advantage of a federal system is that it can encourage competition among the states resulting in the testing of new policy solutions and the diffusion of best practices. This holds true for online aggression policy, particularly those addressing cyberbullying. This chapter begins with a discussion of the literature on strategies being adopted at the school board level to limit the spread of cyberbullying. It concludes with an overview of current evaluation research comparing recent policies being implemented by local schools.

Explaining Policy Adoption

The response by government officials to heartbreaking events such as the suicides of Ryan Halligan and Phoebe Price has been mixed. At the state level, actions have ranged from attempting to use traditional aggression policies to halt the rise of cyber aggression crimes to passing new laws aimed specifically at cyber aggression. What explains the differences in the state responses? In exploring this question, this chapter examines the influence of state-level variables on policy adoption for four different forms of cyber aggression. For laws addressing cyberbullying, cyber-harassment, and cyberstalking, this chapter explores the level of legislative action concerning the updating and/or passing of new laws for the years 2007 through 2015. Pooled cross-sectional time series data that controls for variation between states and over time is used. Revenge porn laws are examined, but because they are relatively new, a cross-sectional analysis is presented for the year 2016.

Legislative Response to Cyber Aggression

This chapter presents the federal and state-local legislative response to cyber aggression: stalking, harassment, and bullying. Along with other federal efforts, the federal Violence Against Women Act and its reauthorizations is identified as a cornerstone law in protecting the public on stalking and harassment. State-local laws have advanced in scope; yet, there are laggard states not yet entirely on board in passing legislation aligned with the advancement of technology used in cyber aggression. All three branches of government to some extent have had a voice in today's cyber policy. Judicial court cases have shaped policy decisions and several key cases are presented.

Defining Online Aggression

The internet has become an inescapable part of our lives, and while it makes our lives easier, it also exposes us to online threats ranging from identity theft to denial of service to phony lottery/sweepstake scams. Among these online threats are those that are carried out with the direct intent of harming another person or group of individuals. This category of crimes is referred to as cyber aggression and includes cyberbullying, cyber-harassment, and cyberstalking. As technology expands, so does the opportunity for new forms of online aggression such as doxing and revenge porn. It is becoming difficult to keep up with new trends in acts of online aggression or distinguish between cybercrimes that appear to have similar definitions. This chapter acts as an introduction to online aggression by providing an overview of older and emerging forms of cyber aggression.