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Psicothema was founded in Asturias (northern Spain) in 1989, and is published jointly by the Psychology Faculty of the University of Oviedo and the Psychological Association of the Principality of Asturias (Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos del Principado de Asturias).
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Psicothema, 2012. Vol. Vol. 24 (nº 4). 646-652




Police actions with regard to cyberbullying: The Belgian case

Heidi Vandebosch1, Luc Beirens2, Wim D’Haese3, Denis Wegge1 and Sara Pabian1

1 University of Antwerp,
2 Federal Computer Crime Unit and
3 Local Police Leuven

Research shows that cyberbullying is a common phenomenon amongst youngsters, with potentially severe negative effects. Besides students, parents, schools, and Internet Service Providers, the police have been identified as an important actor in approaches against cyberbullying. Departing from the situation in Belgium, this article describes how the police can: help to prevent cyberbullying, by informing students, parents, and schools about the issue; play a role in the detection of cyberbullying, for instance, by creating online reporting systems (apart from the offline channels) and finally, assist in handling existing cyberbullying cases, by identifying perpetrators and helping victims.

Acciones policiales relacionadas con cyberbullying: el caso belga.La investigación existente muestra que el cyberbullying es un fenómeno común entre los jóvenes y que tiene potencialmente efectos negativos. Además de los estudiantes, los padres, las escuelas y los proveedores de servicios de Internet, la policía ha sido identificada como un importante actor en la prevención del cyberbullying. A partir del caso de Bélgica, este trabajo describe cómo la policía puede ayudar a prevenir el cyberbullying, informando a estudiantes, padres y escuelas sobre este asunto; jugando un papel en la detección del cyberbullying, por ejemplo, creando un sistema en línea de información (además de los canales presenciales) y ayudar en el afrontamiento de los casos de cyberbullying y, finalmente, identificando a los perpetradores y ayudando a las víctimas.

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Impact factor 2022:  JCR WOS 2022:  FI = 3.6 (Q2);  JCI = 1.21 (Q1) / SCOPUS 2022:  SJR = 1.097;  CiteScore = 6.4 (Q1)