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Technology-facilitated violence: A conceptual review

Mitchell, Matthew; Wood, Jackson; O’Neill, Tully; Wood, Mark; Pervan, Flynn; Anderson, Briony; Arpke-Wales, William

Authors

Matthew Mitchell

Jackson Wood

Tully O’Neill

Mark Wood

Flynn Pervan

William Arpke-Wales



Abstract

This article provides a conceptual review of the term ‘technology-facilitated violence’. In the last decade, discussion of technology-facilitated violence has become commonplace in criminological and social scientific discourses. Yet, scholars have not settled on what this term means or the kind of relationship between technology and violence it infers. Addressing this ambiguity, we review how scholars have conceptualised technology-facilitated violence, evaluate the adequacy of those conceptualisations, and develop strategies to improve them. To do so, we bring the philosophy of technology into conversation with the scholarship on technology-facilitated violence to identify the latent theories of technology that underpin existing definitions of technology-facilitated violence. Then, synthesising insights from these two fields of scholarship, we generate a new definition of technology-facilitated violence that builds on the strengths of existing definitions while avoiding their key limitations. This new definition and the conceptual review that informs it should improve scholarly understandings of technology-facilitated violence and help design better strategies to address its harms. Hence, we conclude by emphasising the importance of this kind of conceptual and synthetic work and the value it offers scholars concerned with improving both theory and practice.

Citation

Mitchell, M., Wood, J., O’Neill, T., Wood, M., Pervan, F., Anderson, B., & Arpke-Wales, W. (online). Technology-facilitated violence: A conceptual review. Criminology & Criminal Justice, https://doi.org/10.1177/17488958221140549

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 1, 2022
Online Publication Date Dec 9, 2022
Deposit Date Sep 2, 2024
Journal Criminology & Criminal Justice
Print ISSN 1748-8958
Electronic ISSN 1748-8966
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/17488958221140549
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2782784