Victims of cyberstalking:   an exploratory study of harassment perpetrated via the Internet

Paul Bocij

doi:10.5210%2Ffm.v8i10.1086

Victims of cyberstalking: an exploratory study of harassment perpetrated via the Internet

Paul Bocij

Operations & Information Management

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This paper describes the first study to focus exclusively on the prevalence and impact of cyberstalking. A Web-based questionnaire was used to collect data from a group of respondents who were recruited by snowball sampling via e-mail. A total of 169 respondents completed the questionnaire. The results of the study found that approximately a third of respondents might be considered victims of cyberstalking. Furthermore, when asked to indicate the level of distress felt as a result of their experiences, almost a quarter of respondents chose a value of ten on a ten-point scale.
The study also suggests a number of differences between cyberstalking and offline stalking, for instance cyberstalking tends to take place over a shorter period of time than offline stalking and cyberstalking victims are less likely to know the identify of their harassers. These differences add weight to the argument that cyberstalking should be seen as a new form of deviant behaviour that can be distinguished from offline stalking. The work concludes by emphasising a need for further research.

Original language	English
Journal	First Monday
Volume	8
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5210%2Ffm.v8i10.1086
Publication status	Published - Oct 2002

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All of First Monday's current and archival content is available freely to anyone with Internet connectivity. First Monday's content is completely available in line with notions of open access as expressed in the Budapest Open Access Initiative and related statements and declarations. Authors retain the rights to their work published in First Monday and may freely make their papers available as they see fit. Contributors to First Monday are encouraged to dedicate their work to the public domain or to select a Creative Commons license. Further details can be found at http://firstmonday.org/about/submissions#copyrightNotice

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title = "Victims of cyberstalking: an exploratory study of harassment perpetrated via the Internet",

abstract = "This paper describes the first study to focus exclusively on the prevalence and impact of cyberstalking. A Web-based questionnaire was used to collect data from a group of respondents who were recruited by snowball sampling via e-mail. A total of 169 respondents completed the questionnaire. The results of the study found that approximately a third of respondents might be considered victims of cyberstalking. Furthermore, when asked to indicate the level of distress felt as a result of their experiences, almost a quarter of respondents chose a value of ten on a ten-point scale. The study also suggests a number of differences between cyberstalking and offline stalking, for instance cyberstalking tends to take place over a shorter period of time than offline stalking and cyberstalking victims are less likely to know the identify of their harassers. These differences add weight to the argument that cyberstalking should be seen as a new form of deviant behaviour that can be distinguished from offline stalking. The work concludes by emphasising a need for further research.",

author = "Paul Bocij",

note = "All of First Monday's current and archival content is available freely to anyone with Internet connectivity. First Monday's content is completely available in line with notions of open access as expressed in the Budapest Open Access Initiative and related statements and declarations. Authors retain the rights to their work published in First Monday and may freely make their papers available as they see fit. Contributors to First Monday are encouraged to dedicate their work to the public domain or to select a Creative Commons license. Further details can be found at http://firstmonday.org/about/submissions#copyrightNotice ",

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Victims of cyberstalking: an exploratory study of harassment perpetrated via the Internet

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