Explaining the impact of cyberspace on street violence

a preventive approach

Abstract

There has been no cohesive research conducted on the impact of cyberspace on street violence. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to analyze the impact of cyberspace on street violence with a preventive approach. This research is qualitative and was conducted using a thematic analysis approach over a six-month period from Spring 2024 to Fall 2024. The statistical sample consisted of a group of 14 experts, including university professors and specialists in the studied field, selected through the snowball sampling method. To verify the validity of the data and the model extracted from the interviews, two methods (retesting and within-subject agreement) were used to ensure the reliability of the findings. The research findings revealed that the analysis of the impact of cyberspace on street violence includes six main themes: (a) street violence, (b) virtual violence, (c) social factors, (d) psychological factors, (e) economic factors, and (f) legal factors. These themes encompass 17 sub-themes and 256 basic themes, which, after removing duplicates, were reduced to 83 basic themes. The results indicate that various factors are involved in the formation of street violence; however, from the perspective of cyberspace, these factors can be categorized as social, psychological, economic, and legal. Therefore, implementing the solutions proposed in this study can contribute to reducing street violence.