Cyberbullying in Portugal – a scoping study and the perceptions of Portuguese teachers

Revista de Estilos de Aprendizaje / Journal of Learning Styles, Volumen 17, Nº 33, 102-113. ISSN: 1988-8996 / ISSN: 2332-8533 www.revistaestilosdeaprendizaje.com 102 ARTÍCULOS Revista de Estilos de Aprendizaje / Journal of Learning Styles ISSN: 1988-8996 / ISSN: 2332-8533 Cyberbullying in Portugal – a scoping study and the perceptions of Portuguese teachers Luís Coutinho PhD Researcher in Universidade do Minho, Portugal Correo: [email protected]; [email protected] ORCID: 0000-0001-6210-4962 José Alberto Lencastre, Associate Professor in the Institute of Education at University of Minho, Portugal Correo: jlencast[email protected]ho.pt ORCID: 0000-0002-7884-5957 Ana Maria Tomás De Almeida, Associate Professor at the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education of Minho University, Portugal Correo: [email protected] ORCID: 0000-0003-0036-312X Received: 8 December 2022 / Accepted: 12 November 2023 Abstract During the COVID-19 global pandemic period, cyberbullying grew exponentially as students were essentially working online. We did a scoping study to understand the state of the art referring to academic publications in Portuguese related to cyberbullying in Portugal. We identified 316 articles in the RCAAP database related to the topic and, after the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 13 articles were deeply analyzed. The conclusions suggest that cyberbullying has more harmful effects than traditional bullying; the authors highlight the need for teacher training to identify signs of cyberbullying; and the importance of intervention projects to inform the community – teachers, students and parents – about how to avoid behaviors that enhance cyberbullying. At the same time, data from a questionnaire survey applied to 96 portuguese teachers made it possible to validate the need for training and the importance of having intervention programs that enable the fight against cyberbullying. Keywords: cyberbullying; scoping study; Portugal. Revista de Estilos de Aprendizaje / Journal of Learning Styles, Volumen 17, Nº 33, 102-113. ISSN: 1988-8996 / ISSN: 2332-8533 www.revistaestilosdeaprendizaje.com 103 [en] Cyberbullying em Portugal – um scoping study e as perceções de professores portugueses Resumo Durante o período de pandemia global COVID-19, o cyberbullying cresceu exponencialmente à medida que os estudantes trabalhavam essencialmente online. Fizemos um scoping study para compreender o estado da arte referindo-se a publicações académicas em português relacionadas com o cyberbullying em Portugal. Identificámos 316 artigos na base de dados da RCAAP relacionados com o tema e, após os critérios de inclusão e exclusão, 13 artigos foram analisados de forma profunda. As conclusões sugerem que o cyberbullying tem efeitos agravantes em comparação com o bullying tradicional; sugerem também a necessidade de formação para professores e a importância de projetos de intervenção para informar a comunidade – professores, alunos e pais. Ao mesmo tempo, os dados de um inquérito por questionário aplicado a 96 professores portugueses, permitiram validar a os dados obtidos pelo scoping study, reforçando assim a relevância das conclusões obtidas. Keywords: cyberbullying; scoping study; Portugal. Sumario: 1. Introdución; 2. Contexto; 3. Metodologia; 4. Discussion; 5. Conclusion 1. Introdución Cyberbullying is a term defined in 2005 by Bill Belsey that makes the combination of the traditional bullying allied to the term cyber by implying the use of technologies to intentionally carry out repeated and hostile behaviors against an individual or group of individuals, with the cause of harm (Kowalski et al., 2014; Belsey, 2006). Hinduja and Patchin (2008) report that cyberbullying causes physical, psychological, cognitive, social and emotional sequelae. These damages can cause introversion, low self-esteem, insecurity, feelings of panic, depression, anguish, school failure or, in more severe cases, suicide. In 2017, a Unicef study revealed that 1 in 3 children claimed to have been victims of cyberbullying. In the study by Ponte and Batista (2019), 24% of Portuguese children and young people reported being victims of offline and online bullying in 2018. In Portugal, Amado et al. (2012), report, in a questionnaire to 339 students from the 6th, 8th and 11th years of schooling, that 15.6% of the respondents had already been the target of cyberbullying. In the analysis by EU Kids Online Portugal (2019), these values more than doubled in relation to 2010 and 2014. Still in Portugal, according to António et al. (2020), in a study in which 485 students participate, 61.4% have been victims of cyberbullying, at least some, in the last 3 months (during the quarantine/distance learning period); 40.8% said they had been an aggressor and 86.8% an observer. As such, we carried out a scoping study to understand the state of the art regarding cyberbullying in Portugal and, later, we then applied a questionnaire survey with the intention of validating the data obtained and verifying different lines of investigation. This questionnaire was elaborated within the scope of an Erasmus project of which we are part, in order to collect and analyze teachers' perceptions regarding cyberbullying and, for this article, we used Portuguese data collected. 2. Background In December 2010, a proposal was presented to the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic that advocated the criminalization of school bullying (Bill 46/XI/2). Subsequently, the Student Statute and School Ethics (Law No. 51/2012) defines a set of duties of the student aimed at preventing behaviors related to bullying and whose non-compliance causes the author to incur disciplinary infraction and in the possible application of corrective disciplinary measures ( i) and j) of Article 10). This statute also scans the obligations and duties of both parents and school principals in situations that call into Revista de Estilos de Aprendizaje / Journal of Learning Styles, Volumen 17, Nº 33, 102-113. ISSN: 1988-8996 / ISSN: 2332-8533 www.revistaestilosdeaprendizaje.com 104 question the "safety and physical and psychological integrity of all who participate in the life of the school". In 2019, Order No. 8404-C/2019, effective the appointment of a working committee that had the function of supervising and promoting the project "School Without Bullying. School Without Violence." This order explicitly defines that the school, along with the family, are privileged spaces in the prevention and fight against violence, namely bullying and cyberbullying. In the current context, with an unparalleled use of the internet and digital resources, in which computers are distributed to all students of the Portuguese educational system as well as to all teachers and that, simultaneously, exponential increases in cases of cyberbullying, as mentioned in the study by António et. Al (2020), in which of the 485 students participating, 61.4% said they had been the victim of cyberbullying, at least a few times, in the last 3 months. It is therefore important to understand this phenomenon and, above all, to prepare teachers, students and parents with strategies to combat this problem. We decided, therefore, to prepare a scoping study, because we consider it relevant to know the state of the art at the level of academic publications in Portuguese about the situation of cyberbullying in Portugal. 3. Method According to Arksey and O'Malley (2005) a scoping study aims to quickly map out the key concepts that underpin a research area and the main sources and types of evidence available. This definition draws attention to the need for comprehensive coverage of the available literature, regarding the amount of data taken and analyzed, referring to the fact that there may be different degrees of depth in different types of scoping study, as this depends on the purpose of the review itself. A scoping study can be carried out as a standalone project, especially when an area is complex or has not been comprehensively researched. To note that the process should be documented in sufficient detail to enable the study to be replicated by others. According to the authors it is possible to identify, at least, four reasons why a scoping study can be carried out: 1. Examine the extent, scope and nature of the research activity; 2. To determine the value of conducting a complete systematic review; 3. To summarize and disseminate the results of the research; 4. To identify research gaps in existing literature. Arksey and O'Malley (2005) also define that a scoping study should consist of 5 stages: Stage 1: identifying the research question Stage 2: identifying relevant studies Stage 3: study selection Stage 4: charting the data Stage 5: collating, summarizing and reporting the results According to Wilson and McLean (1994) a questionnaire is an instrument that provides structured data that can be easily analyzed and that allows understanding different perspectives and characteristics of a given population (Quivy & Campenhoudt, 1998). We will focus the analysis on the 94 responses from Portuguese teachers, in order to assess whether they are in line with the data from our scoop review. Our target audience were 94 teachers from Portuguese public and private schools, aged between 34 and 65 years old of wich 76% were female. 3.1. Scoping review Thus, in stage 1, we defined our review question, to analyze, synthesize and present some data contained in the existing literature on the state of the art referring to academic publications in Portuguese related to cyberbullying in Portugal. Regarding stage 2, we define that, in our research, we will consider articles with quantitative approaches and qualitative approaches, because, according to McMillan and Schumacher (2001), educational research is disciplined research, using quantitative and qualitative approaches. Then, as databases for our research, we selected the Online Knowledge Library (b-on) because it allows access to scientific publications from research institutions and higher education being a Revista de Estilos de Aprendizaje / Journal of Learning Styles, Volumen 17, Nº 33, 102-113. ISSN: 1988-8996 / ISSN: 2332-8533 www.revistaestilosdeaprendizaje.com 105 reference in access to international scientific information. We also opted for the Portal of Scientific Repositories of Open Access in Portugal (RCAAP) because it collects, aggregates and indexes scientific content so long as it exists in the institutional repositories of national higher education entities, and other organizations. We decided to expand the search with the use of Google Scholar, to verify if this portal adds another amplitude studies that can contribute to better answer the review question. In summary, in the three databases, the following results were achieved: Table 1 Preliminary research results 1AND2 1AND3 1AND4 2AND3 2AND4 1AND2AND3 2AND3And4 ALL b-on 8264 529 225 151 100 79 0 0 RCAAP 103 144 1 48 0 20 0 0 Google 58 400 52 300 23 300 5250 4410 5550 478 39 Totals 66 767 53 040 23 526 5574 4510 5702 478 39 We then started stage 3 and we have set out the following inclusion and exclusion criteria: Frame 1 Inclusion and exclusion criteria INCLUSION CRITERIA EXCLUSION CRITERIA Scientific article Exclude repeated articles. Access to full text in PDF format Exclude articles by analyzing titles. Articles since 2016 Exclude books, chapters, e-books and theses Articles in Portuguese Exclude articles without an abstract and/or keyword. Exclude articles not referring to Portugal Exclude articles that do not explicitly mention peer review Exclude articles by analyzing the abstracts of the articles. After defining the inclusion and exclusion criteria, as Cherry and Dickson (2014) refer, we consulted an expert in the field, who suggested, since the volume of data to be analyzed was impractical (in our case we had 159 636 results) to change the inclusion criteria for the date or restrict to only one database the research. Our option was to restrict one database and we selected the data obtained in RCAAP with following results: Table 2 Results 1AND 2 1AND3 1AND4 2AND3 2AND4 1AND2AN D3 2AND3And 4 ALL RCAAP 103 144 1 48 0 20 0 0 We now present the flow diagram summarizing the review protocol and the compiled data. Revista de Estilos de Aprendizaje / Journal of Learning Styles, Volumen 17, Nº 33, 102-113. ISSN: 1988-8996 / ISSN: 2332-8533 www.revistaestilosdeaprendizaje.com 106 As defined in stage 4, we charted the data. All data collected were organized through Excel grids so that data extraction was facilitated and their reading, and subsequent reference, was feasible, as reported by Fleeman and Dundar (2014). We organize the descriptive data according to the order number resulting from our research, referring to the name of the articles, their year of publication and authors. Table 3 Descriptive data (order number, name of articles, year of publication and authors) Nº ARTICLE NAME YEAR AUTHORS 1 Ciber)Bullying: revisão sistemática da literatura 2021 Gonçalves,Vitor ; Vaz, Cátia Emanuela Augusto 6 A promoção de manifestações de bullying na escola: posicionamento dos alunos adolescentes portugueses 2018 Ceron Trevisol, Maria Teresa; Pereira, Beatriz Spies, Dandara Isabela: Mattana, Patrícia 7 Associação entre bullying escolar e o país de origem: um estudo transcultural 2019 Zequinão, Marcela Almeida; Medeiros, Pâmella de; Lise, Fábio Augusto; Trevisol, Maria Teresa Ceron; Pereira, Beatriz 2 Bullying e cyberbullying em idade escolar 2016 Seixas, Sónia Raquel Pereira Malta Marruaz; Fernandes, Luís; Morais, Tito 3 Bullying e Cyberbullying: ameaça ao bem-estar físico e mental dos adolescentes 2018 Araújo, João Diogo Oliveira Caldeira, Maria do Rosário 9 Bullying na adolescência: causas e comportamentos de alunos portugueses e brasileiros 2019 Ceron Trevisol, Maria Teresa Pereira,Beatriz Mattana, Patrícia 10 Bullying na escola: causas e posicionamentos de alunos portugueses e brasileiros 2017 Ceron Trevisol, Maria Teresa; Pereira, Beatriz Mattana, Patrícia Figure 1. Revision Protocol (adapted from Moher, Tetzlaff and Altman, 2009 [The PRISMA Group] Revista de Estilos de Aprendizaje / Journal of Learning Styles, Volumen 17, Nº 33, 102-113. ISSN: 1988-8996 / ISSN: 2332-8533 www.revistaestilosdeaprendizaje.com 107 4 Bullying, ciberbullying e problemas de comportamento: o género e a idade importam? 2019 Carvalho, Marina; Branquinho, Cátia Sofia dos Santos; Matos, Margarida Gaspar de 14 Cyberbullying: Motivos da agressão na perspetiva de jovens portugueses 2017 Caetano, Ana; Amado, João; Martins, Maria José D.; Freire, Isabel; Veiga Simão, Ana; Pessoa, Teresa 15 Emoções no cyberbullying: um estudo com adolescentes portugueses 2016 Caetano, Ana; Freire, Isabel; Veiga Simão, Ana Martins, Maria José D.; Pessoa, Teresa 11 Jogos antibullying: a perceção dos professores e educadores portugueses 2020 Vaz, Cátia 12 Número Temático: Estudos sobre Bullying em Portugal 2017 Almeida, Ana Maria Tomás de Correia, Isabel 5 Vitimização pelo bullying em três países: um estudo transcultural 2019 Zequinão, Marcela Almeida; Medeiros, Pâmella Silva, Jorge Luiz; Skrzypiec, Grace; Trevisol, Maria Teresa Ceron; Lopes, Luís; Pereira, Beatriz As Arksey and O'Malley (2003) say, stage 5 of a scoping study involves collating, summarizing and reporting the results. Consequently, we then established our categories and subcategories of analysis 3.2. I. The aggravating factor of cyberbullying According to Seixas et al. (2016), communication mediated by a screen has its own characteristics that serve as enhancers and aggravating factors in the case of cyberbullying, in which interlocutors feel that there is a minimization of authority. This communication context allows a growing disinhibition, more relaxed and with less formality than the real and face-to-face context, enabling anonymity and the illusion of invisibility. At the same time, the aggressor does not have the same access to the victim's reactions as in the real context, which may cause him even less empathy or remorse for the victim. To Seixas et al. (2016), the fact that when digital content is accessible online can be searched and used freely, repeatedly and without contextualization, further aggravates the problem of cyberbullying. In addition, you don't control the audience that sees online aggression and that, unlike face-to-face bullying that is restricted to a space-time, cyberbullying can happen at any time and anywhere because both aggressors and victims are permanently connected to their mobile devices. Also, Araújo and Caldeira (2018) follow the same line of thought, stating that cyberbullying can exert its effects on the victim at anytime and anywhere, thus being a constant pressure. Seixas et al. (2016) also argues that the relationship of power inequality inherent in bullying can gain another perspective in the case of cyberbullying, because it is no longer about the aggressor being the strongest physically, but rather the one with the greatest technological expertise. For Araújo and Caldeira (2018) cyberbullying is a more complex and violent form of aggression and may even serve as a continuation of face-to-face bullying. For the authors, as occurs in a virtual world, the aggressor feels unpunished, unsupervised and invisible so he can go beyond all limits. According to Caetano et al. (2016) are very important factors of impunity and anonymity, together with the face-to-face removal, which allow the aggressor to perpetuate their behavior because, not visualizing the reactions and suffering of the victim, minimizes feelings of guilt and remorse, combined with the lack of consequence of their acts. Following this line of thinking, these authors also state that aggressors, due to the context of cyberspace, develop a reduced sensitivity to empathy and suffering of others. For Caetano et al. (2017) the new generations that are continuously linked to cyberspace, in which everything happens very fast, almost instantaneous, the aggressors justify their behaviors as play, fun, escape from boredom, pleasure for pleasure, which will imply serious consequences at many levels and particularly in the communicational, moral and ethical development both the victim and the aggressor. Taking into account the specific characteristics of cyberbullying, Seixas et al. (2016), state that victims may present a more oppressive symptomatology, both physically, mentally and socially, than in cases of traditional bullying. Revista de Estilos de Aprendizaje / Journal of Learning Styles, Volumen 17, Nº 33, 102-113. ISSN: 1988-8996 / ISSN: 2332-8533 www.revistaestilosdeaprendizaje.com 108 Table 4 Category "The aggravating factor of cyberbullying" (evidence) Nº EVIDENCE 2 "Young victims of cyberbullying assume a more serious and insidious character, and may trigger more intense, disturbing and more physical, psychological and social risk symptoms." 3 "Cyberbullying unquestionably represents a more complex form of bullying and, in many cases, can emerge as the continuation of face-to-face bullying" 15 "In the case of cyberbullying, aggressors will be better protected, given the anonymity of this behavior, and unaware of the reactions of victims, which "protects" them from feelings of guilt" 14 "The prevalence of hedonistic motives, associated with emotions of pleasure and fun, and the possible processes of moral disengagement" 3.2. II. Teacher training According to Gonçalves and Vaz (2021), teacher training is one of the ways to follow, thus investing in the primary prevention of cyberbullying, easing teachers with knowledge and strategies that make it possible to identify behaviors and, in a timely manner, act. According to the authors, their studies suggest the lack of specific training for the educational community. Also, Carvalho et al. (2019) and Trevisol et al. (2018) state that it is necessary to develop skills in those who are responsible for formal education, so that professionals can recognize and intervene in cases of bullying and cyberbullying. In studies conducted by Vaz (2020) most teachers report that bullying is currently a worrying problem in schools, but that they never had specific training in this area, although they felt the need for this same training. Thus, the author states that it is essential to develop conceptual training in teachers to face bullying, since they are the ones that can more easily prevent and detect this problem in the school environment. Table 5 Category "Teacher training" (evidence) Nº EVDENCE 1 "Teacher training is the key" 10 "It is necessary that the adults responsible for this context be attentive to identify them and intervene with them (...) Have knowledge to guide students, schools, families and society in general about the risks and consequences of bullying" 11 "In this sense, teacher training is essential, because they are the ones who can prevent and detect this problem more easily in schools" 3.2. III. Intervention programs According to Araújo e Caldeira (2018) and Carvalho et al. (2019) it is necessary to develop intervention projects, based on public policies in the Education and Health areas, in the school and community context, centered into the socio-emotional aspects that involve the capacities and competencies of empathy, so that young people are aware of the phenomenon of cyberbullying and its consequences. For the authors, cyberbullying is a complex and difficult-to-control phenomenon that awareness-raising campaigns are needed, involving students and families, so that they can anticipate and avoid the harms of cyberbullying. Trevisol et al. (2018) also concluded that prevention and intervention actions are needed, based on programs that promote the development of the formation of the human dimension of students and their Revista de Estilos de Aprendizaje / Journal of Learning Styles, Volumen 17, Nº 33, 102-113. ISSN: 1988-8996 / ISSN: 2332-8533 www.revistaestilosdeaprendizaje.com 109 relationships, with a view to preventing and intervening the effects of bullying. These programs, according to Trevisol et al. (2017), all actors should be part of the victim, aggressor, spectator, in the sense that everyone feels that the quality of relationships of coexistence at school is a common task. Caetano et al. (2017) state that it is necessary to develop an effective digital citizenship, which breaks the cycle of associated violence in order to prevent cyberbullying and some of the causes that are at its origin. Dealing with and discouraging cyberbullying will involve the design and implementation of through intervention projects, which must include all stakeholders: students, teachers and parents, in a systemic approach (Caetano et al., 2016). In the form of a summary, Zequinão et al. (2019) report that the literature proves the effectiveness of school bullying intervention projects, referencing the world-renowned KiVa Antibullying Program and the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. Table 6 Category "Intervention programs" (evidence) Nº EVIDENCE 3 "In this sense, it is urgent to carry out information and awareness campaigns in schools and for families" 4 "Development of and/or adaptation of prevention programs, focused on socio-emotional aspects involving empathy skills and competences." 6 "Organization of prevention and intervention actions in relation to the problem of bullying at school" 5 "(...) programs effectively reduce school bullying in relation to aggression (approximately 19-20%) and victimization (15-16%) (...)" 9 "Prevention and intervention work with all those involved in the problem: victim, aggressor, spectator, finally, with the school collective, so that everyone feels responsible for ensuring the quality of the relationships of coexistence in the school space" 14 “it is necessary to consider an intervention that seeks to prevent cyberbullying and some of its causes, but also break the cycle of violence” 15 “Therefore, it is necessary to develop intervention projects based on in-depth knowledge of the phenomenon, in a systemic approach in which everyone is involved” 4. Discussion In the first theme, (i) the aggravating factor of cyberbullying, the authors assume that cyberbullying differs from traditional bullying due to its specific characteristics and that these can even serve as aggravating factors. For the aggressor there is a sense of impunity and invisibility, feeling that he can pass all barriers and boundaries without having to deal with the consequences of his acts. Also not being physically present, being only something to which he watches through a screen, allows the aggressor to feel less remorse and empathy for the suffering of the victim. The virtual world in which stimuli and reactions are immediate, with an incessant search for new pleasures and new amusements that occur at an increasing speed, leads the aggressor to view his acts only as a moment of fun and there is no reflection on the consequences. From the victim's perspective, cyberbullying also has aggravating characteristics. The replicability of the contents in the virtual context makes the aggression can be experienced over and over again and scale, for a limitless number of people, the audience that watches the humiliation. The fact that this is not limited to a space and time, unlike the traditional bullying that occurs in a given space, in cyberbullying there are no safe places or rest times because, with mobile devices and the internet, the pressure on the victim is permanent. These