José R. Agustina
Abat Oliba CEU University
Educational challenges to prevent the practice of sexting and cyberbullying among adolescents.
Participants: Michelle Drouin1; Rosario del Rey2; Mónica Ojeda2; Aina Gassó3; Cordelia Estévez4
1 Purdue University (United Stated); 2University of Seville; 3Universitat Internacional de Catalunya; 4Miguel Hernández University of Elche
Symposium Summary
In a few years, technological progress has transformed the way in which people interact and communicate with each other, especially among the so-called digital adolescents. Its impact on daily activities and the dominant culture has also led to an increase in exposure to psychological and victimological risks in the area of education and socialization of minors. Faced with this new psychosocial reality, new educational challenges arise that must be based on an adequate diagnosis of educational psychology in relation to adolescents.
In this context, two phenomena closely associated with the permanent use of ICT by minors have strongly emerged: (1) intensification of forms of bullying through ICT; and (2) the exchange and dissemination of intimate images with sexual content, called sexting in some scientific literature.
Together with the research applied to these phenomena in order to identify the most relevant psychological and victimological factors, it is necessary to define practical guidelines for the task of parents, tutors and educators, as well as to model the media’s discourse. Without underestimating the personal risk factors (psychological, family and mental health), efforts should also be made to promote an environment that creates environmental and cultural protection factors, in which prosocial values and self-control guidelines of unquestionable effectiveness are assimilated in a positive way in any prevention programme.
Short CV
Having been accredited as a Professor of Criminal Law, Dr Agustina is Director of the Criminal Law Area at UIC Barcelona, combining his academic and research activity with his professional practice as a Lawyer-Consultant. Previously, he worked as a judge at the Provincial Court of Barcelona. Director of the Master's Degree in Cybercrime and co-director of the Master's Degree in Legal, Forensic and Criminological Psychopathology, as well as of several compliance programmes. He has been a Visiting Scholar at Cambridge University, Pace Law School, Rutgers School of Law and Texas State University. Author of more than 50 articles in indexed journals and four monographs. He currently directs the Criminological and Criminal News Collection at BdeF-Edisofer. His specialization areas include the study of cyber-crimes against individuals (sexting, stalking and grooming) and minors’ cyber-victimization; sexual crimes and crimes against privacy (in particular, sexual crimes facilitated by the use of substances or chemical submission); and criminological theories. He has given lectures and courses as a guest professor in many Spanish and European universities, as well as in the USA, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Costa Rica and Paraguay, among other countries.