Cyberbullying: From Problem to Solution

2021-06-23
13:00

Speakers

Prof. Heidi Vandebosch

Prof. Heidi Vandebosch

University of Antwerp

Host

Analyst DELab UW

The semi­nar was dedi­ca­ted to the rese­arch of Pro­fes­sor Heidi Ven­de­bosch’s team on cyber­bul­ly­ing, con­duc­ted sin­ce 2005.

Prof. Van­de­bosch pre­sen­ted the assump­tions and main results of the ana­ly­ses. In the first pha­se, the team con­duc­ted main­ly pro­blem-orien­ted rese­arch. In par­ti­cu­lar, they explo­red the pre­va­len­ce of cyber­bul­ly­ing, the pro­fi­les of bul­lies, vic­tims and bystan­ders, the impact of cyber­bul­ly­ing on young people­’s phy­si­cal and men­tal health, and the role of parents, scho­ols, social networks and (news) media.

Gra­du­al­ly, based on the insi­ghts from the first pha­se, the con­cept evo­lved into more solu­tion-orien­ted rese­arch. Seve­ral lar­ge, inter­di­sci­pli­na­ry and inter-uni­ver­si­ty pro­jects have deve­lo­ped and eva­lu­ated evi­den­ce-based (tech­no­lo­gi­cal) inte­rven­tions such as a serio­us game to pro­mo­te a posi­ti­ve atti­tu­de, auto­ma­ted sys­tems to detect cyber­bul­ly­ing on social networks and reflec­ti­ve inter­fa­ces (which make young people think twi­ce befo­re post­ing haras­sing con­tent). Over time, the types of onli­ne aggres­sion the team stu­died also diver­si­fied (onli­ne sexu­al haras­sment, slut-sha­ming, cele­bri­ty bashing,.…). In a simi­lar way, the popu­la­tions stu­died were expan­ded (from an almost exc­lu­si­ve focus on chil­dren and ado­le­scents, to one in which onli­ne aggres­sion among adults also beca­me a point of interest).

A series of Polish-language meetings during which researchers and guest speakers look at issues related to digital transformation, new technologies, innovation and digital research methods.

The aim of the "Digitisation under the closer look of science" seminars is to build cooperation between academia, the public sector and business. Scientists share their research findings and have the opportunity to discuss them with experts. The results of their work are available on the DELab UW website.

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