Distant Psychological Violence: Prospects for Improvement of Criminal Legislation

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Abstract

The article researches the legal issues of protection from various forms of distant psychological violence arising in electronic communication. The study aims to assess the public danger of cyber-bullying, cyber-stalking and cyber-harassment among potential and real victims in order to develop recommendations for improvement of domestic legislature. The main results of the study have been obtained by surveying 207 individuals and by means of comparative review of domestic and foreign law. The results indicate that distant violence does take place, but its assessment by legislators and the public is highly controversial. Cyber-harassment is commonly seen as a more dangerous phenomenon than cyber-bullying or cyber-stalking, which raises a question of its criminalization in the law. This necessitates a correct definition of sexual harassment in distant form as there are risks of either intruding into the field of socially acceptable behavior or overlooking the socially unacceptable ones.

General Information

Keywords: bullying, psychological violence, harassment, stalking, cyberbullying, cyberstalking, cyber harassment, distant violence

Journal rubric: Psychology of Deviant and Criminal Behavior

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/psylaw.2021110405

Received: 30.01.2020

Accepted:

For citation: Mosechkin I.N. Distant Psychological Violence: Prospects for Improvement of Criminal Legislation [Elektronnyi resurs]. Psikhologiya i pravo = Psychology and Law, 2021. Vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 64–76. DOI: 10.17759/psylaw.2021110405. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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Information About the Authors

Iliya N. Mosechkin, PhD in Law, Associate Professor, Associate Professor, Chair of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law and National Security, Vyatka State University, Kirov, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9724-9552, e-mail: weretowelie@gmail.com

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