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An Exploratory Analysis of the Mental Health Impacts of Digital Media on Electronic Aggression in Youth: the Olic Seum Effect Cinnamon Blair

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An Exploratory Analysis of the Mental Health Impacts of Digital Media on Electronic Aggression in Youth: the Olic Seum Effect Cinnamon Blair University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs Education ETDs 6-24-2010 An Exploratory Analysis of the Mental Health Impacts of Digital Media on Electronic Aggression in Youth: The oliC seum Effect Cinnamon Blair Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/educ_hess_etds Recommended Citation Blair, Cinnamon. "An Exploratory Analysis of the Mental Health Impacts of Digital Media on Electronic Aggression in Youth: The Coliseum Effect." (2010). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/educ_hess_etds/49 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Education ETDs at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS OF THE MENTAL HEALTH IMPACTS OF DIGITAL MEDIA ON ELECTRONIC AGGRESSION IN YOUTH: THE COLISEUM EFFECT BY CINNAMON BLAIR B.A., ENGLISH, EMORY UNIVERSITY, 1991 B.A., POLITICAL SCIENCE, EMORY UNIVERSITY, 1991 THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Health Education The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico May, 2010 ii ©2010 Cinnamon Blair ACKNOWLEDMENTS It is difficult to overstate my gratitude to Dr. Magdalena Avila, my advisor and thesis chair. Her encouragement, guidance and support from the initial to the final stages of this journey have enabled me to develop a passion for and understanding of the importance of effective health education. Throughout my thesis-writing period, she provided motivation, sound advice, superb teaching and excellent company. ¡Muchas gracias! I would also like to thank Dr. Philip Duryea and Dr. David Graeber for being a part of my thesis committee and for their encouragement, insightful comments and support of my academic pursuits. Mom, thank you for supporting me throughout this process, my college career, and my entire life in all my endeavors - even when you think I am a bit crazy for attempting them. Equal measure to my Dad, whom I wish was still alive to see me finish this degree, for teaching me to never give up, and when in doubt to “go look it up.” Thank for making me who I am. I love you both! Marc, I love you and thank you for being there to listen when I struggled through moments where this thesis seemed to get the best of me and for giving me love, support and hope, not just during this process, but throughout all the time I have known you. A special thank you and all the love in my heart to my son Zane for being the inspiration for me to be a part of something bigger than myself – you are my hope for a better tomorrow. iv AN EXPLORATORITY ANALYSIS OF THE MENTAL HEALTH IMPACTS OF DIGITAL MEDIA ON ELECTRONIC AGGRESSION IN IN YOUTH: THE COLISEUM EFFECT BY CINNAMON BLAIR ABSTRACT OF THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Health Education The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico May, 2010 v AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS OF THE MENTAL HEALTH IMPACTS OF DIGITAL MEDIA ON ELECTRONIC AGGRESSION IN YOUTH: THE COLISEUM EFFECT by Cinnamon Blair B.A., English, Emory University, 1991 B.A., Political Science, Emory University, 1991 M.S., Health Education, The University of New Mexico, 2010 ABSTRACT Electronic aggression is a relatively new communication phenomenon, the mental health impacts of which among youth are an emerging and increasingly critical health problem. The problem is important as many researchers, policy makers, educators, parents and young people are finding it difficult to identify and prevent this form of violence. Moreover, the means and media of this movement continue to evolve at a rapid rate. The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine the phenomena of electronic aggression in youth and the corresponding impact to their psychological health. The current exploratory analysis examines the similarities and differences between traditional bullying and electronic aggression and the significance of the resulting mental health outcomes for youth shown in the bully, victim and bystander roles. A line of inquiry was developed by the researcher to determine whether there may be a potential coliseum effect, amplifying the psychological harm to those involved. Theoretical sampling was used to examine three cases chosen for their social notoriety and ongoing proliferation. In addition to the factual and documented data relative to the vi cases, the original posted comments and interactions of third-party bystanders on the Internet were collected and analyzed in order to examine their contributing role in and potential impact on electronic aggression. Upon analyzing the themes found within these cases, a critical factor emerged relative to the role of the electronic bystander. The ability for a dissociated online persona to be anonymous and invisible in an environment – the Internet – that is relentless and the stage to infinite audiences has the potential to amplify the aggression's negative effect on the target by prolonging the victimization indefinitely. At the same time, this virtual coliseum seems to evoke aggressive behaviors among some youth who otherwise might not engage in this form of violence. The researcher determined that potential negative mental health impacts may be increased as a result of a coliseum effect, where peripheral spectators to acts of electronic aggression contribute to and nourish its existence. As unmonitored access to the Internet and other electronic media increases, electronic aggression will likely follow a similar trajectory. It is therefore critical to conduct further research on this phenomenon in order to understand how and why it occurs and how various short and long term repercussions on the mental health of the youth involved evolve. Only then can preventive measures be developed, implemented and systematically evaluated. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION..............................................................................1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: OVERVIEW AND PURPOSE .........................................1 SCOPE AND RESEARCH....................................................................................................5 RATIONALE FOR THE CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND SIGNIFICANCE .................................6 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE.................................................8 DEFINING ELECTRONIC AGGRESSION ...........................................................................8 THE CONTEXT OF TRADITIONAL BULLYING ..............................................................11 Characteristics of the Traditional Bully and Bullied......................................16 Psychological/Psychosocial Effects of Traditional Bullying........................17 Suffering in Silence: The Bullied......................................................................21 THE EVOLUTION FROM TRADITIONAL BULLYING TO ELECTRONIC AGGRESSION .....................................................................................22 Characteristics of the Cyberbully and the Cyberbullied................................23 Psychological/Psychosocial Effects of Electronic Aggression.....................29 Suffering in Silence: The Cyberbullied............................................................35 Not-so-virtual Reality: The Environment in which Electronic Aggression has and Continues to Develop ......................................................37 Tools of Electronic Aggression: The Means and the Media .........................38 The Changing Role of the Bystander ................................................................45 PREVALENCE AND PREDICTORS OF ELECTRONIC AGGRESSION ...............................47 AN EMERGING HEALTH PROBLEM...............................................................................58 ELECTRONIC AGGRESSION: THE LAW AND POLICY ..................................................60 Federal Response .................................................................................................61 State Response......................................................................................................62 LIMITATIONS TO THE REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE..................................................64 DISCUSSION OF THE REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE....................................................65 CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM THE REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ............................69 Separate but Equal? .............................................................................................70 Recommendations ................................................................................................72 viii CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY .....................................................................75 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................................................75 RESEARCH APPROACH ..................................................................................................76 Subjects..................................................................................................................76 Nature of Data ......................................................................................................78 DATA COLLECTION METHOD .......................................................................................78 CASE EXAMINATIONS ...................................................................................................79
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