Bystander Apathy and Intervention in the Era of Social Media

Lytle, Robert; Bratton, Tabrina M.; Hudson, Heather

doi:10.1108/978-1-83982-848-520211052

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 63 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In addition, a clear message emerged that bystander intervention to this behaviour was a moral responsibility, even if this did not impact on the male perpetrator and female victim directly; this could have a wider social good of supporting others to report coercive control. This study replicated other research suggesting that victims of online harassment may have social support online (Lytle, 2021). However, the findings were also compatible with Models of Bystander Intervention (Latané and Darley, 1970) which suggest people experience internal conflict witnessing “wrong” behaviour but factors such as proximity to the victim (Palmer et al , 2018) or if the victim is unknown to the witness with a large number of bystanders; this may also diffuse responsibility (Butler et al , 2022) .…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 89%

“Influencers” – a study investigating the messages people receive about coercive control on social media

Haase

Worthington

2023

JFP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose Coercive control (which is a form of intimate partner violence [IPV]) is a significant public health concern affecting millions of people throughout the world. Whilst exposure to IPV in childhood and adolescence has been shown to contribute to the intergenerational transmission of IPV, this alone does not explain IPV. A range of bio-psycho-social factors contribute to IPV which includes exposure to peer influence on social media platforms, whereby research has shown this online expression of views and opinions can change off-line behaviour. This has extended to not only purchasing products but also influencing attitudes in relation to illegal behaviour such as sexual harassment and sexual assault. The purpose of this study was to explore what young people are being exposed to online, through social media, surrounding coercive controlling behaviour. Design/methodology/approach According to Fazel et al. (2021), real-time social media data can provide important information about trends in public attitudes and attitudes towards events in the news. This study used data from Twitter to explore what adolescents are being exposed to online surrounding coercive and controlling behaviour. The data was subsequently analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings Three overarching themes were found in relation to coercive control: the Educator; Gaslighter; and the Comedian. Two of these were forms of secondary victimisation. Practical implications Social media provides a powerful platform through which people’s attitudes and behaviours may be influenced both positively and negatively in relation to socio-political issues (Lozano-Blasco et al., 2022). The implications of the findings in this study are discussed with recommendations for how social media platforms could be supported to act prevent them from being used as a tool to facilitate the distribution of hate speech in relation to IPV and instead be used as a platform for psycho-education. Originality/value Previous research in this field has tended to focus on the impact of IPV and the prevalence rates of IPV in young people, but not on the different types of information young people may be exposed to surrounding relationships on social media platforms.

show abstract

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 89%

“Influencers” – a study investigating the messages people receive about coercive control on social media

Haase

Worthington

2023

JFP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In addition to the alternative responses described above, creating holistic responses to TFVB will also require alternative bodies to work to enact systems-level changes and to challenge the culture that normalizes TFVB. For instance, comprehensive educational initiatives 8 could both challenge discriminatory beliefs related to TFVB, such as homophobic, racist, or sexist beliefs that often underly acts of TFVB (Henry et al, 2017; Mishna and Van Wert, 2015), and teach bystanders how to support victims or positively intervene in acts of TFVB (Albury et al, 2017; Lytle et al, 2021; Powell and Henry, 2017). As I argue elsewhere (Dodge, 2021a, 2021b), robust public education could be paired with an holistic restorative approach to address the myriad failures, on the part of individuals, community, culture, and systems, that create and invigorate the harms of TFVB.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Looking beyond the law to respond to technology-facilitated violence and bullying: Lessons learned from Nova Scotia’s CyberScan unit

Dodge

2023

Crime, Media, Culture

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Legal remedies in response to technology-facilitated violence and bullying (TFVB) have often overshadowed the creation of alternative responses. While the framing of law as the most impactful remedy can result in the false belief that this issue has been adequately dealt with through legal regulation, in practice legal options are not utilized by the majority of those harmed by TFVB, do not provide many of the core supports that targets of TFVB seek to access, and offer limited possibilities for prevention and culture change. Responding to growing demands for alternative responses to TFVB, this article provides an analysis of the province of Nova Scotia’s CyberScan unit—a government enforcement unit offering alternative supports and responses to TFVB—to explore the efficacy of implementing alternative responses to TFVB in practice.

show abstract

“…It has been demonstrated that the degree to which, if at all, an online bystander will defend a victim can be predicted by her or his social group, attitudes and situational influences (Lytle et al 2021).…”

Section: The Role Of Bystanders In Aggravating Perpetuating and Mitig...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing Online Violence Against Women and Girls in the Commonwealth Pacific Region

Secretariat¹

2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This report focuses on the role of online bystanders in reducing online violence against women and girls (VAWG), including consideration of any related policies or laws. Given the relatively recent emergence of bystanders as potential facilitators and exacerbators of online crime, policy responses have tended to focus on the virtual versions of existing physical crimes, such as ‘cyber’ bullying and ‘cyber’ stalking, and/or the dissemination of intimate images online (when previously they might have been posted on a physical bulletin board). Moreover, these policy responses have tended to focus on capturing perpetrators, but not bystanders, within a legislative framework.

show abstract

Bystander Apathy and Intervention in the Era of Social Media

Cited by 8 publications

References 63 publications

“Influencers” – a study investigating the messages people receive about coercive control on social media

“Influencers” – a study investigating the messages people receive about coercive control on social media

Looking beyond the law to respond to technology-facilitated violence and bullying: Lessons learned from Nova Scotia’s CyberScan unit

Addressing Online Violence Against Women and Girls in the Commonwealth Pacific Region

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About