The Internet is growing rapidly and is becoming an essential part of children’s lives. Internet use has many benefits for learning, participation, creativity, entertainment and communication. Along with such benefits, however, Internet use might expose children to a wide range of online risks. Some of those risks, such as bullying, exposure to pornography, and sexual exploitation, are known in the offline world but there are also new ones, such as the invasion of personal data and privacy, geolocation tracking, sexual messaging and harassment.

Unfortunately, the existing mechanisms for protecting children online are ineffective. The parental controls currently available focus on monitoring and restrictive functions to reduce potential online risks, which might not satisfy the expectations of young people who want unrestricted freedom to use the Internet. Parental controls also demonstrate shortcomings in increasing parents’ awareness of the risks that their children may encounter. Parents not only need to be aware of their children’s online activities, but also to understand and mitigate the potential risks associated with their children’s online activities. Young people might engage in online behaviours that expose them to risk, although not all risk leads to harm. Therefore, parental controls should improve parents’ awareness of the potential security risks related to their children’s online activities, so that they can support their children’s use of the Internet, enhance their opportunities and help them develop the coping skills to deal with potential risk.

The present research suggests applying a risk communication mechanism to parental controls to raise the security awareness for parents and children in order to help them make safe decisions and reduce online risks. Firstly, this research proposes a risk assessment model that assess the risk levels of children’s online activities in order to warn parents and children about them in an individualised, timely, and continuous way. The proposed system also provides appropriate protection responses to avoid those risks. Secondly, a prototype system has been designed and developed to simulate the proposed system and provide a clear image of its functionalities and how it works. After implementing the prototype system, it was important to have parents evaluate its usability and usefulness. The participants were able to use the system and were satisfied in terms of its overall appearance and the functions provided. They agreed and prefer to use the system in real life. It can also be stated that the overall feedback from the participants regarding the proposed system was very encouraging and positive.

Cyberstalking is a new phenomenon that is facing our society. It is a poorly researched and widely misunderstood concept that is only now coming to the attention of researchers. There are numerous features of the internet that make it an attractive tool for harassment such as low cost, deliberately low regulation, ease of use, immediacy, potentially anonymous nature, law restrictions, widespread availability, stealth, insignificance of physical distance and victim depersonalisation. In this way a space has been opened up that allows individuals a forum to harass, intimidate and threaten others. The purpose of the research is to investigate the prevalence of cyberstalking in an Irish sample and to explore the possibility that cyberstalking should be viewed as an addictive disorder. A literature review of the small but growing body of research relating to cyberstalking was undertaken. In order to address the research question a survey questionnaire was devised so that the results assess aspects of cyberstalking behaviour that may be indicative of an addictive disorder. Email and social networking sites were the cyberstalking tools of interest in the study. 100 participants were recruited online through Email and Facebook to take part in the study. Participation consisted of completing the online questionnaire. The results were compared to the criteria for addictive disorders suggested by Goodman. The findings suggest that cyberstalking is indeed a pervasive problem in contemporary Irish society and some evidence supports the contention that it should be considered an addictive disorder. Furthermore, the results support a number of trends present in the cyberstalking literature. The conclusions drawn indicate that the phenomenon of cyberstalking deserves examination and that further and more extensive research is needed in the area to adequately address the issue.

Evidence exists that the NHS has had, over many years, persistent problems of negative and intimidating behaviour towards staff from other employees in the NHS. The evidence also suggests the responses to this behaviour can be inadequate. Pope and Burnes (2013) model of organisational dysfunction is used to investigate and explain these findings. A qualitative approach was taken to research the organisational responses to negative behaviour, and the reasons and motivations for those responses. Forty three interviews and six focus groups were conducted. The Framework Method of thematic analysis was chosen for the main analysis and fourteen Framework Themes were identified. ‘3 word summaries’ of the culture were analysed. Further analysis was undertaken of words relating to fear, rationalisations/justifications, what people don’t want to do, the culture, and assumptions/beliefs. The model of organisational dysfunction has been extended. The findings show that participants consider the NHS to be a politically driven, “top down”, “command and control”, hierarchical organisation; a vast, enclosed, bureaucratic machine/system under great pressure. They believe there is a culture of elitism, fear, blame, bullying and a lack of accountability; a culture where power, self-interest and status matters. There is constant change. Saving money and achieving targets are seen to be the priority. A lack of care and humanity is described and negative behaviour seems to have become tolerated and normalised. Bullying is mentioned many times, and viewed as “rife” and “endemic”. Good practice/behaviour can be punished, and bad rewarded, as can failure. Corrupt and unethical behaviour is identified as are totalitarian and Kafkaesque characteristics. Participants describe resistance to voicing concerns and any information which puts individuals or organisations into a ‘negative light’. Employees who raise concerns can be victimised. The “top-down bullying culture … suppresses constructive dissent”. There can be rhetoric, “empty words” and “spin”, rather than reality. A desire for “good news” and the rejection and hiding of “bad news” is described. There seem to be “islands” and “pockets” with a positive culture, however, the generalised evidence suggests the NHS is systemically and institutionally deaf, bullying, defensive and dishonest, exhibiting a resistance to ‘knowing’, denial and “wilful blindness”; a dysfunctional, perverse and troubled organisation. The NHS could also be described as a coercive bureaucracy and under certain definitions, a corrupt entity. The NHS appears to be an organisation with a heart of darkness; a “self perpetuating dysfunctional system”. There may be widespread “learned helplessness”. Overall, the needs of the NHS and the protection of image appear more important than the welfare of staff or patients. It does seem to be a “good news factory”. The NHS appears to have “lost its way” and its focus/purpose as an institution. The dysfunctional organisational behaviours manifest in the NHS need to be addressed urgently as there is a detrimental, sometimes devastating, impact on the wellbeing of both staff and patients. The NHS needs to embrace an identity of being a listening, learning and honest organisation, with a culture of respect.

This research addresses the question “When is a bully not a bully?” through grounded theory using a purposive sample of volunteer participants who had been accused of workplace bullying. The aim of the study was to critically evaluate the lived experience and organisational implications of being accused of being a workplace bully, from the perspective of the (alleged) bully. The research did not set out to consider if an (alleged) bully had been guilty or innocent of the allegation put to them; it was considered that if this was deemed a criteria by the potential participant it may reduce engagement with the study. This study will contribute to the body of knowledge around the phenomenon of bullying and offers an insight into both research and further development of good organisational practice. Whilst the research on other parties involved in the issue and management of workplace bullying have developed, Einarsen (2014), Jenkins, Zapf, Winefield and Sarris (2012), Notelaers (2014) and Samnani and Singh (2012) express concern that research which explores and examines the perpetrator’s experience is scarce and needed as a priority in acknowledging the gap in current research and to develop a fuller understanding of the phenomena of workplace bullying. In a qualitative study with eight participants from a particularly difficult to access group, the researcher offers an early contribution to the current gap in literature, research and understanding of the perspective of the alleged workplace bully. Participants engaged in individual, confidential, unstructured interviews with the researcher and spoke candidly about their perceptions and the impact the accusation had on them. This was then analysed, evaluated and developed through a classical grounded theory approach to develop the theoretical model guilty until proven innocent. In discussing the participants’ concerns in this model, the research widened understanding and academic knowledge and narrowed the gap of information of the (alleged) bully’s perspective. In dealing with allegations, (alleged) workplace bullies identify with concerns of feeling bullied back, emotional reactions, self-coping mechanisms and managerial responsibility and action, from which the grounded theory guilty until proven innocent emerged. The main findings of the research emerged from the participant’s interviews; key highlights included being isolated by their organisations and subject to negative acts which would, in themselves be considered bullying behaviours. Participants then described how they would separate themselves from the organisation, despite feeling a sense of disconnected loyalty towards it. The structure of HR functions and the anti-bullying related policy had a significant influence on the negative treatment participant’s experienced, with a continual theme around the presumption the participant was guilty from the outset, by virtue of an allegation being raised. This perception was reinforced in the different way (alleged) bullies were supported and treated by their organisations from the claimants. The participants had been negatively affected by identifiable victim effect (Hamilton & Sherman, 1996), dispute-related claims (Einarsen, 1999; Keashly & Nowell, 2003) and the claimant being managed under a separate formal management procedure. The study also suggested that allegations of bullying could in themselves be a form of bullying and that there may be an element of discrimination in this on the grounds of protected characteristics. The main recommendations consider the structure of HR functions and the need for a visible and accessible personnel element necessary to begin to balance the support available for all parties, including the alleged, the alleger, bystanders, witnesses, line managers, HR and investigation managers. Further research, which tests the grounded theory of guilty until proven innocent with larger samples will extend and develop this study and test some of the resolutions and solutions offered.

Burnout in human services has become a widely researched psychological concept over the last 40 years (Shaufeli, Leiter & Maslach, 2009). Negative outcomes of clinician burnout in mental health services is well documented, however less research has focused on the specific burnout subsection of depersonalisation (Maslach, 1998). A mixed methodology was used which aimed to examine predictors of depersonalisation among qualified clinicians employed in NHS mental health services, as well as an exploration of experiences of resilience and burnout. A total of 261 Mental Health Nurses, Clinical Psychologists and Social Workers employed in NHS mental health services completed an online survey and open-ended qualitative
questions. Multiple regression analysis suggested five significant predictors of depersonalisation; clinicians’ specialties, years of experience post-qualification, exposure to physical abuse, emotional exhaustion and low ratings of personal achievement. No significant differences of depersonalisation were reported among different professions. Thematic Analysis of responses to open-ended questions suggested that a ‘love of the job’ or desire to ‘help service users’ supported resilience. Job stressors such as exposure to physical abuse or bullying were reported as detrimental to resilience. Implications of maintaining compassionate and effective client care were discussed as well as limitations and areas of future research.