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Abstract

Cyberstalking is assumed to become more prominent with the rise of technology and in particular social media. The existing research is conflicted as to whether or not males or females are more likely to be cyberstalked and a causal relationship has not been identified to answer why these gender differences occur, however the student population is considered ideal when studying cyberstalking. Within the UK previous studies have focused upon individual universities, whilst this study utilises students from across the UK. This study used a mixed methods concurrent explanatory research design to answer the research question: are male or female students aged 18-25 years old more likely to be a victim of cyberstalking and why? Undertaking a pragmatic approach, this study used online surveys following a social media invitation to collect a sample of 53 students. Following both a statistical analysis, it was concluded that there was no significant relationship between gender and cyberstalking victimisation and there was no association between daily usage of technology and online platforms and cyberstalking victimisation. Female students were however shown to be the most frequent users of technological devices daily, which could contribute to gender differences in cyberstalking victimisation. A latent thematic analysis was also conducted, interpreting four themes. It was found that gender differences did occur in the perceptions and experiences of cyberstalking including emotional and psychological impact and reporting behaviours among students. The implications for future research are to remove harm and emotional effects when defining cyberstalking as these do not occur to all victims.

Course: Criminal Justice - MSc - C2681F

Date Deposited: 2024-11-21

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis14559.html