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Cyberbullying in the United Kingdom and Ireland

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International Perspectives on Cyberbullying

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Cybercrime and Cybersecurity ((PSCYBER))

Abstract

Cyberbullying and cybervictimization are important and growing problems that have undesirable health-related outcomes. They are significantly related to school bullying and school victimization. This chapter reports the results of a systematic review of the prevalence of cyberbullying and cybervictimization in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It also reviews the effects of different methods of data collection and questioning techniques on prevalence estimates. Research suggests that girls are more likely to be cybervictims, while boys are more likely to be cyberbullies. Cyberbullying and cybervictimization are related to cognitive and psychological factors such as low self-esteem and loneliness, and they are more prevalent in deprived schools. The chapter finishes by reviewing policies and programmes that are designed to reduce cyberbullying and cybervictimization.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Only statistically significant relationships are reported here. For a full overview, see Fletcher et al. 2014, table 3, p. 1396.

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Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to Mona O’Moore and Peter Smith for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this chapter.

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  1. Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Hannah Gaffney & David P. Farrington

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  1. Department of Psychology, Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy

    Anna Costanza Baldry

  2. UER Pédagogie Spécialisée, HEP du Canton de Vaud, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Catherine Blaya

  3. Institute of Criminology University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

    David P. Farrington

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Gaffney, H., Farrington, D.P. (2018). Cyberbullying in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In: Baldry, A., Blaya, C., Farrington, D. (eds) International Perspectives on Cyberbullying. Palgrave Studies in Cybercrime and Cybersecurity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73263-3_5

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