Bullying in physical and cyber spaces: experiences of young adult survivors in the digital age.
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Date
2023
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Abstract
Bullying has become a serious problem for young people all over the world. Using action
research within the critical paradigm, this qualitative study examines the experiences of
young adult survivors of both physical and cyber bullying. Against a backdrop of rapid
technological advances in social media communication and the blurring of physical and
virtual bullying contexts, survivors provide poignant insights into how they grapple with the
psycho-social impacts of their experiences. These impacts include pain, poor self-image, fear,
loneliness, and feelings of dehumanisation. The study reveals that filmed incidents of
physical bullying posted on social media tethers the physical realm to cyber space creating
shifts and extensions along the dimensions of content, space, time, and participants. One of
the unique contributions of this study is a discussion on the interlocking nature of the four
dimensions of extension which gives rise to the concept of extended bullying. The
exploration of these multiple extensions provides insights into a particular and complex form
of bullying across physical and cyber spaces and how to develop educational interventions in
response. The research design, supported by the theoretical insights of Paulo Freire, Bradley
Evans, and Henry Giroux, provides a framework for knowledge production through
partnerships that involved reflection, sustained dialogue, and creative action with survivors,
youth and teachers. While revealing how pervasive and damaging extended bullying is, the
study also exposes how psycho-social impacts are only fully recognised and understood when
the phenomenon of bullying is viewed through the prism of multidimensional extensions. The
study emphasises the need to balance rigorous scholarship with the promotion of democratic
social change.
Description
Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.