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33 Deviant Behav. 1 (2012)

handle is hein.journals/devbh33 and id is 1 raw text is: Deviant Behavior, 33: 1-25, 2012 fli Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC E Rouledge ISSN: 0163-9625 print/ 1521-0456 online mtTaylor & Francis Group DOI: 10.1080/01639625.2010.538364 Stalking in the Twilight Zone: Extent of Cyberstalking Victimization and Offending Among College Students Bradford W. Reyns Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, USA Billy Henson Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, USA Bonnie S. Fisher University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA Over the last decade, researchers have consistently reported that stalking is a disturbing reality for many individuals, especially youths. Cyberstalking, however, has received much less attention from the research community than stalking. Few estimates of cyberstalking victimization or cyberstalking offending have been published. The current study attempts to address these gaps by estimating life- time prevalence of both cyberstalking victimization and offending among a sample of undergradu- ates from a large urban university in the Midwest. Results show that 40.8% had experienced cyberstalking victimization, with females, nonwhites, non-heterosexuals, and non-singles dispropor- tionately experiencing cyberstalking. Approximately 4.9% of students had perpetrated cyberstalking, but there were few differences in offending across students' demographic characteristics. INTRODUCTION Virtual environments exist neither in time nor space. They represent a medium in which many people engage not just in inconsequential pursuits (e.g., shopping, playing games), but in routine social functions such as communication, networking, and romance. Unfortunately, many who use the Internet for these purposes experience harassment, threats, and unwanted sexual advances by others while on-line. These experiences are some of the component behaviors of cyberstalking. Cyberstalking can be defined as the repeated pursuit of an individual using electronic or Internet-capable devices. The repeated pursuit behaviors include persistent and unwanted electronic communications that can contain messages laced with coercive or intimidating wording or sexual overtones. The repeated communications often transpire via e-mails, blogs, instant messenger messages, text or video messages, chat rooms, on-line social networks, or other websites (Reyns 2010). This description is consistent with other widely accepted Received 10 February 2010; accepted 15 July 2010. Address correspondence to Bradford W. Reyns, Weber State University, 1206 University Circle, Ogden, UT 84408- 1206, USA. E-mail: bradfordreyns@weber.edu

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