Bullies Move Beyond the Schoolyard

• Author: Justin W. Patchin,Sameer Hinduja
• DOI: 10.1177/1541204006286288
• Published date: 01 April 2006
• Date: 01 April 2006
• Subject Matter: Articles

10.1177/1541204006286288Youth Violence and Juvenile JusticePatchin, Hinduja / CYBERBULLYING

BULLIES MOVE BEYOND THE SCHOOLYARD

A Preliminary Look at Cyberbullying

Justin W. Patchin

University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire

Sameer Hinduja

Florida Atlantic University

Bullying in a school setting is an important social concern that has received increased

scholarly attention in recent years. Specifically, its causes and effects have been under

investigation by a number of researchers in the social and behavioral sciences. A new

permutation of bullying, however, has recently arisen and become more common: Tech-

savvy students are turning to cyberspace to harass their peers. This exploratory article

discusses the nature of bullying and its transmutation to the electronic world and the

negative repercussions that can befall both its victims and instigators. In addition, find-

ings are reported from a pilot study designed to empirically assess the nature and extent

of online bullying. The overall goal of the current work is to illuminate this novel form of

deviance stemming from the intersection of communications and computers and to

provide a foundational backdrop on which future empirical research can be conducted.

Keywords: bullying; cyberbullying; online; aggression; Internet

The home, neighborhood, and school are all recognized as important social and phys-

ical contexts within which adolescents develop. Bullying—an all too common form of

youthful violence—has historically affected children and teenagers only while at school,

while traveling to or from school, or in public places such as playgrounds and bus stops.

Modern technology, however, has enabled would-be bullies to extend the reach of their ag-

gression and threats beyond this physical setting through what can be termed cyberbullying,

where tech-savvy students are able to harass others day and night using technological de-

vices such as computer systems and cellular phones. Computers occupy a significant pro-

portion of the homes in which children reside and are frequently used for social, entertain-

ment, academic, and productivity needs (National Telecommunications and Information

Administration [NTIA], 2002). Moreover, cellular phones are gaining widespread popular-

ity and use among the younger age groups because they are perceived as a status symbol, al-

148

Authors’ Note: We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on an earlier draft. Corre-

spondence concerning this article should be addressed to Justin W. Patchin, Department ofPolitical Science, Uni-

versity of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, 105 Garfield Ave., Eau Claire, WI 54702-4004; e-mail: patchinj@uwec.edu.

Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, Vol. 4 No. 2, April 2006 148-169

DOI: 10.1177/1541204006286288

© 2006 Sage Publications

low for conversations with friends in different physical spaces, and provide a virtual tether

of sorts for parents, allowing for supervision from afar.

Though they are intended to positively contribute to society, negative aspects invari-

ably surface as byproducts of the development of new technologies such as these. The nega-

tive effects inherent in cyberbullying, though, are not slight or trivial and have the potential

to inflict serious psychological, emotional, or social harm. When experienced among mem-

bers of this highly impressionable and often volatile adolescent population, this harm can

result in violence, injury, and even death (e.g., Meadows et al., 2005; Vossekuil, Fein,

Reddy, Borum, & Modzeleski, 2002) and later criminality for both the initiator and recipi-

ent of bullying (e.g., Olweus, Limber, & Mihalic, 1999; Patchin, 2002). One particularly

horrendous anecdotal account deserves mention. In May of 2001, viciously offensive mes-

sages denigrating and humiliating a high school sophomore girl who suffered from obesity

and multiple sclerosis were posted anonymously to an online message board associated

with a local high school in Dallas, Texas (Benfer, 2001). In time, the bullying crossed over

to the physical world as the victim’s car was vandalized, profanities were written on the

sidewalk in front of her home, and a bottle filled with acid was thrown at her front door—

which incidentally burned her mother. This example vividly depicts how bullying online

can lead to physical harm offline.1

Little research to date has been conducted on cyberbulling. However, research on the

correlates of traditional bullying can assist in comprehending the reality and growth of this

new phenomenon. To begin, the desire to be and remain popular takes on almost life-like

proportions among kids and teenagers during certain stages of their life, and their self-

esteem is largely defined by the way that others view them. Although it is unclear exactly

when self-esteem increases or decreases during a child’s life (Twenge & Campbell, 2001),

it unquestionably shapes a child’s development in profound ways. According to the social

acceptance model, self-esteem stems from the perceptions that others have of the individual

(Cooley, 1902). When individuals perceive themselves to be rejected or otherwise socially

excluded, a number of ill effects can result (Leary, Schreindorfer, & Haupt, 1995). Much re-

search has validated this theory (Leary & Downs, 1995; Leary, Haupt, Strausser, & Chokel,

1998; Leary, Tambor, Terdal, & Downs, 1995) and has pointed to the following potentially

negative outcomes: depression (Quellet & Joshi, 1986; Smart & Walsh, 1993), substance

abuse (Hull, 1981), and aggression (Coie & Dodge, 1988; French & Waas, 1987; Hymel,

Rubin, Rowden, & LeMare, 1990; Paulson, Coombs, & Landsverk, 1990; Stewart, 1985).

In addition, low self-esteem tends to be found among chronic victims of traditional bullying

(Hoover & Hazler, 1991; Neary & Joseph, 1994; Rigby & Slee, 1993).2It is expected that

cyberbullying can similarly cripple the self-esteem of a child or adolescent, and without a

support system or prosocial outlets through which to resolve and mitigate the strain, the

same dysphoric and maladaptive outcomes may result. Despite these solemn possibilities,

there has been very little empirical attention todate devoted toward better understanding the

electronic variant of this deviance (exceptions include Berson, Berson, & Ferron, 2002;

Finn, 2004; Ybarra & Mitchell, 2004).

This research seeks to fill this gap by exploring cyberbullying and examining its po-

tential to become as problematic as traditional bullying—particularly with society’s in-

creasing reliance on technology. Its goal is to illuminate this novel form of deviance stem-

ming from the intersection of communications and computers and to provide a foundational

backdrop on which future empirical research can be conducted. First, what is known about

traditional bullying will be summarized to provide a comparative point of reference. Sec-

ond, data collected from various media sources will be presented to describe the technology

Patchin, Hinduja / CYBERBULLYING 149