Authors

Thomas Crofts is Professor of Criminal Law and Director of the Sydney Institute of Criminology in the School of Law, The University of Sydney. His research in criminal law, criminology and criminal justice centres on criminalisation and criminal responsibility with a particular focus on the criminal responsibility of, and for, children, comparative criminal law and criminal law reform. 

Charlotte De Backer is Associate Professor at the University of Antwerp, Department of Communication Studies. She teaches and conducts research in the domain of interpersonal relations. In her PhD (Ghent University) and postdoctoral research (UC Santa Barbara) she studied the various functions of interpersonal and celebrity gossip. One of the current topics of her research focuses on the sharing of reputation information by means of gossip on the perceived levels of trust in interpersonal relations.

Lara Hallam works as a teaching and research Assistant at the Department of Communication Studies of the University of Antwerp. As a doctoral student she is a member of the MIOS research group. Her research focusses on relationships that develop in online dating on the one hand, and on how online dating platforms can be enhanced to improve the initial interactions between potential romantic partners on the other hand.

Eva Lievens is Assistant Professor of Law & Technology at the Law Faculty of Ghent University and a member of the Human Rights Centre. A recurrent focus in her research relates to human and children's rights in the ICT and media sector and the use of alternative regulatory instruments, such as self- and co-regulation. 

Murray Lee is a Professor in Criminology at the University of Sydney Law School. He is the author of Inventing Fear of Crime: Criminology and the Politics of Anxiety, co-author of Policing and Media: Public Relations, Simulations and Communications and Sexting and Young People, co-editor of Fear of Crime: Critical Voices in an Age of Anxiety, and editor of the scholarly journal Current Issues in Criminal Justice.

Yu Lu is a postdoctoral Research Fellow at UTMB Health in Galveston, Texas. She received her doctorate in Communication Arts and Sciences from the Pennsylvania State University. Her major research interests are health decision-making and health disparities, particularly in the context of risk behaviours such as violence and substance abuse.

Alyce McGovern is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology in the School of Social Sciences, UNSW Sydney. She has researched widely in the area of crime and media, including police-media relations, police use of social media, and young people and sexting. She is the co-author of Policing and Media: Public Relations, Simulations and Communications and Sexting and Young People.

Karolien Poels is a Professor at the Department of Communication Studies of the University of Antwerp (Belgium). She studies individuals’ uses and experiences of ICT and social media and how these insights can be applied for persuasive communication (advertising, protection and empowerment of consumers).

Koen Ponnet is an Assistant Professor at the Ghent University. He also teaches at the University of Antwerp. He is (co-)author of multiple articles on the determinants of online and offline health and risk behaviors of adolescents and adults. In his research, he also pays attention to the situation of vulnerable groups, like those who are at risk of poverty.

Jeff R. Temple is a Professor at UTMB Health in Galveston, Texas. He received his doctorate in counselling psychology from the University of North Texas and a postdoctoral research fellowship at Brown University. His major research interests include the aetiology, course, consequences, prevention, and treatment of intimate partner and teen dating violence.

Heidi Vandebosch is a Professor at the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Antwerp (Belgium). Her research mainly focuses on cyberbullying  (prevalence, profiles of bullies and victims, impact, evidence-based interventions, the role of schools, the police and news media).

Joris Van Ouytsel is a Post-doctoral Researcher at the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Antwerp. He focuses his research on the influence of digital media on relationship experiences and sexuality among adolescents. More specifically, he investigates the role of sexting and cyber dating abuse, the use of digital media within romantic relationship to control or harass a romantic partner.

Kathleen Van Royen is a Post-doctoral Researcher at the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Antwerp (Belgium). She conducts research on social networking sites and cyber harassment, in particular sexual harassment and adolescents.

Ini Vanwesenbeeck graduated in 2010 as a Master in Communication Sciences at the University of Antwerp. After graduation, Ini participated  in several projects on eSafety and cyberbullying at the University of Antwerp. In October  2011,  Ini obtained a PhD Fellowship from the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO). Her doctoral thesis focussed on embedded online advertising targeted at children, in which she investigated amongst other parental media mediation and advertising. Currently, Ini works at Ghent University as project coordinator for AdLit, a research project funded by VLAIO.

Michel Walrave is a Professor at the Department of Communication Studies, University of Antwerp. He is responsible for the research group MIOS. His research is centered around online self-disclosure and privacy. He investigates adolescents’ and adults’ online disclosure of personal information to other individuals, including intimate self-disclosures such as sexting.  Next, he investigates individuals’ entrusting of personal information to companies, and related opportunities and risks.