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Abstract

In order to test whether and how violence is exacerbated in online social networking sites, we utilized the BryantSmith Aggression Scale (Bryant & Smith, 2001), and included examples in the questionnaire offering solutions for 7 different hypothetical cases occurring online (Kiss, 2017). The questionnaire was sent to social work and law school students in Hungary. Prevalence and levels of aggression and its manifestation as violence online proved to be not more severe than in offline social relations. Law students were more aware than students of social work that online hostile acts are discrediting. Students of social work were significantly more prone to break into physical fights than were law students and higher level of aggression was observed in their online behavior as well. Those who spend more time online tend to be more active online and bear a significantly higher level of aggression compared to those who are less active online. To conclude, higher education has a significant role in establishing control. This is especially crucial with law students who might have to work closely with the police and local residents aiming to establish peaceful communication, problem solving, and cooperative solutions in grassroots community policing programs.

Note on the Author(s)

Katalin Parti is senior research fellow with the National Institute of Criminology Hungary, lecturer at the Doctoral School of Police Sciences, National University of Public Service. Member of editorial board at scientific journals Infokommunikáció és Jog, International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence and Cybercrime. Reviewer at Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology, and at Slovenian Research Agency. Max Planck Gesellschaft, Fulbright, and Hungarian State Eötvös Scholarship visiting scholar.

Tibor Kiss police major, assistant professor at the Department of Criminology, Faculty of Law Enforcement, National University of Public Service. Member of board at the PhD section of the Hungarian Society of Criminology, his research interest is cyberdeviance. Formerly he has been served as police officer in crime investigation and crime prevention for 20 years, before started research 5 years ago.

Gergely Koplányi is a sociologist and a master student of clinical psychology at Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church. His areas of interest are personality disorders and psychological aspects of criminal behavior.

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