ABSTRACT

Crime and deviance can have a significant and long-lasting effect on victims. While the literature on victim impact from traditional types of crime like robbery or assault is well established, much smaller scholarship examines the impact of online forms of deviance with only a handful of studies focusing on the experiences of adult victims. The current paper analyses the data from a sample of the U.S. adults (N= 746) using mixed methods to examine the perceived impact from different types of cyber abuse. A thematic analysis of open-ended responses identified five main types of victim impact: psychological, emotional, social, financial and positive. We also found that females, victims, who were abused by someone they knew, and who experienced multiple methods of abuse tended to experience higher impact. Besides, some methods of abuse appeared to affect victims more than others. Findings from this study contribute to our understanding of cyber abuse as a type of deviant behavior and help inform policy responses to the needs of cyber abuse victims.

摘要

犯罪和越轨行为会对受害者产生重大而持久的影响。虽然关于传统类型犯罪（如抢劫或袭击）对受害者影响的文献已经确立，但很少有学术研究关注在线越轨形式的影响，只有少数研究关注成年受害者的经历。目前的论文使用混合方法分析了来自美国成年人 ( N = 746) 样本的数据，以检查感知影响来自不同类型的网络滥用。对开放式反应的主题分析确定了五种主要的受害者影响类型：心理、情感、社会、财务和积极影响。我们还发现，被认识的人虐待并经历过多种虐待方式的女性受害者往往会受到更大的影响。此外，某些虐待方法似乎比其他方法对受害者的影响更大。这项研究的结果有助于我们将网络滥用理解为一种异常行为，并有助于为应对网络滥用受害者的需求提供政策响应。