University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects January 2020 Cellphones, Sexting And Crime: An Examination Of College Student Practices Melissa Spelchen Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/theses Recommended Citation Spelchen, Melissa, "Cellphones, Sexting And Crime: An Examination Of College Student Practices" (2020). Theses and Dissertations. 3123. https://commons.und.edu/theses/3123 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CELLPHONES, SEXTING AND CRIME AN EXAMINATION OF COLLEGE STUDENT PRACTICES by Melissa J. Spelchen Bachelor of Science, Minot State University, 1999 Master of Science, Minot State University, 2004 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of North Dakota in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Grand Forks, North Dakota May 2020 Copyright 2019 Melissa J. Spelchen ii PERMISSION Title Cellphones, Sexting and Crime: An Examination of College Student Practices Department Criminal Justice Degree Doctor of Philosophy In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a graduate degree from the University of North Dakota, I agree that the library of this University shall make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for extensive copying for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor who supervised my dissertation work or, in her/his absence, by the Chairperson of the Department or the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies. It is understood that any copying or publication or other use of this dissertation or part thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of North Dakota in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my dissertation. Melissa J. Spelchen December 11, 2019 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. xii ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem .................................................................1 Purpose of the Study ........................................................................3 II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE – CELLPHONES, SEXTING AND CRIME: HOW DID WE GET HERE? ..............................................6 Technological Changes in Communication .....................................7 Telephone, Camera and Internet: The Chronological Evolution .....8 Telephone .............................................................................8 Camera ...............................................................................14 Internet ...............................................................................17 Sexting Definitions ........................................................................23 Sexting Evolution...........................................................................25 Technological Communication and Relationship Evolution ............................................................................27 v A Demographic Portrait of Those Who Sext .................................33 Age…… .............................................................................35 Race....................................................................................36 Gender ................................................................................37 Relationship Status.............................................................38 Group Being Studied..........................................................38 Sexting Motivation.........................................................................40 Revenge Porn: The Motivation to Harm ........................................43 Victimization Transforms into Cybervictimization .......................46 Cybervictimization: Immediacy, Permanency, and Vastness ........49 Immediacy..........................................................................50 Permanency ........................................................................51 Vastness .............................................................................52 Legislation......................................................................................54 Introduction ........................................................................54 History................................................................................55 Forwarding Sexts for Revenge Identifies a Gap in Legislation..........................................................................60 Current Laws ......................................................................61 ND Specific ........................................................................63 Need and Direction of the Study ....................................................67 III. METHODS ................................................................................................69 Study Population ............................................................................70 vi Research Questions ........................................................................70 Online Questionnaire .....................................................................72 Sampling Method ...........................................................................76 Research Ethics ..............................................................................79 Demographics of the Survey Participants ......................................80 Analytical Strategy.........................................................................83 IV. FINDINGS .................................................................................................86 Research Question Results .............................................................86 Research Question 1 ..........................................................86 1a) Profiles of sexters v. non-sexters .....................86 Sexting activity ..........................................88 Those who do not sext ...............................89 1b) The sexters .......................................................89 The conformists .........................................90 Non-conformists ........................................92 1c) The victims ......................................................93 Differences among profiles ....................................96 Research Question 2 ..........................................................97 Research Question 3 ........................................................100 Research Question 4 ........................................................104 Motivations of all sexters .....................................104 Motivations of conformists ..................................106 Motivations of non-conformists ...........................107 vii Motivations of victims of non-conformist sexts......................................................................109 Research Question 5a .......................................................110 Research Question 5b ......................................................116 Research Question 6 ........................................................118 Research Question 7 ........................................................124 Research Question 8 ........................................................127 V. CONCLUSIONS......................................................................................129 Discussion ....................................................................................129 Limitations ...................................................................................144 Findings and Directions for Future Research ..............................147 Conclusions ..................................................................................149 APPENDIX: Survey ........................................................................................................152 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................173 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Impact of cell phone technology on sexting ........................................................100 2. Education about negative outcomes of cellphone use .........................................117 3. North Dakota criminal and civil remedy awareness ............................................126 ix LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Overall Sample Demographics vs. Minot State University Demographics ...........82 2. Demographics for Self-Reported Sexters v. Non-Sexters .....................................87 3. Crosstabulation of Age and Sexting ......................................................................89