Juvenile delinquent and antisocial behaviour in cyberspace - results of a nationwide study in Poland.

• In Event: School Violence and Bullying: Research, Policies, and Ethical Concerns

Abstract

The development of the Internet brings many benefits, it allows the free and easy exchange of information. It is definitely a space that contributes to the development of the world. However, it is also a place where anti-social and even criminal phenomena occur. In recent years, an annual increase in behaviour of this nature has been observed on the Internet. This also applies to the youngest in Poland who are exposed to the new technology from the moment they are born. Cyberbullying is a phenomenon that requires constant research so that effective ways of preventing it can be taken. It is important to know what measures are currently being taken by the judiciary and schools and whether they are sufficient to ensure online safety. In order to find out what the image of cyberbullying looks like and how the authorities react a study was carried out. The research results presented here refers to juvenile online anti-social behaviour that has ended up in court. The research covered 1156 juvenile cases that ended with a final judgment in 2019. A total of 1,398 juveniles were surveyed from 175 courts nationwide. In addition, the results of a self-report survey that was conducted on a nationally representative sample of schoolchildren will also be presented. The research was conducted as part of the project ‘Crime and antisocial behaviour of minors in contemporary Poland’ carried out by the Department of Criminology of the Institute of Legal Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Author

• Szymon Nawrocki, University of Warsaw