The Role of Social Media Abuse in Gender-Based Violence: The Challenge of Vituperative Communication in the Age of New Technology

In recent years, there has been increased recognition of the extent of abuse that occurs online. This abuse has a distinctly gendered character and is violent in tone. I wish to explore the impact that online abuse has on gender-based violence in the real world, and the response from the criminal justice system. Whilst this issue is growing in importance, its prominence in the media has not been matched by an increase in academic investigation. This is particularly apparent in the UK context, where criminal justice institutions have been largely reactive to the threat posed by changes to the way that individuals interact in the digital space, with the emerging nature of the phenomena creating a policy vacuum. I will investigate the extent to which social media has created / influenced a permissive climate towards gender-based violence, and whether its influence in offending is being adequately recognised.
I believe that this study fits well within the WR DTP Data, Communication, and New Technologies (DCT) pathway, given its analysis of the impact of abusive communication executed through the medium of new technology. My research will consider the changing influence of this technology on society, and in particular will explore how (mainly) men are using new technology to communicate gender-based abuse. I am keen to explore how the opportunity for increased, often anonymised social interaction offered by social media platforms changes power relationships between social actors, particularly in regard to gender; considering specifically the interplay that this has with offending in the real world. A review of the literature has revealed that existing research offers few recommendations as to how this abuse should be addressed, and little exploration of how online abuse influences domestic violence in the private sphere.
I have therefore framed my research questions as follows:
1. What effect does abuse have on women's interactions with the digital world?
2. How does abuse via social media transfer into the real world?
3. Has the increase in abuse over the last decade had an effect on the level of domestic violence?
4. What could social media companies and criminal justice agencies do to protect individuals?
This will be a largely qualitative study, employing a multi-method research approach. Empirical research techniques will include semi-structured interviews and online surveys. I intend to draw upon the substantial links that I have within the British political system, to explore first hand the experiences of women participating in the public sphere, both in national and local government. Given that online abuse transcends party political affiliation, I intend to use a snowball sampling technique to increase the number of research participants, and achieve a cross-party analysis. I intend to compare this analysis of the public sphere with the often hidden world of domestic abuse, building links with relevant organisations to identify participants. Online, web-based surveys will be employed when semi-structured interviews are hard to arrange, using a data collection mechanism such as Survey Monkey. A range of secondary sources will also be interrogated, including crime statistics and court records. I believe that the training offered by the WR DTP will strengthen my methodology, particularly in relation to techniques designed to enhance the exploration of new forms of data, including researching social media, social media data mining, sociolinguistics, and undertaking fieldwork in digital contexts. Timeline:
Year 1:
MA in Social Research
Year 2:
Literature review
Devise theoretical framework
Outline methodology
Address ethical considerations
Decide data collection and analysis methods
Identify research participants
Devise data collection methods
Schedule data collection
Year 3:
Data collection
Data analysis
Revise literature review and methodology
Year 4:
Final Data Analysis
Write Up