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There is a strong sense of negativity associated with online fraud victimization. Despite an increasing awareness, understanding about the reality of victimization experiences is not apparent. Rather, victims of online fraud are constructed as greedy and gullible and there is an overwhelming sense of blame and responsibility levelled at them for the actions that led to their losses. This belief transcends both non-victims and victims. The existence of this victim-blaming discourse is significant. Based on interviews with 85 seniors across Queensland, Australia, who received fraudulent emails, this article establishes the victim-blaming discourse as an overwhelmingly powerful and controlling discourse about online fraud victimization. However, the article also examines how humour acts as a tool to reinforce this discourse by isolating victims and impacting on their ability to disclose to those around them. Identifying and challenging this victim-blaming discourse, as well as the role of humour and its social acceptance, is a first step in the facilitation of victim recovery and future well-being.

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There are many theories which seek to explain fraud victimisation. In particular, older victims find themselves at the intersection of various discourses which account for victimisation, primarily from a deficit model. This article examines two discourses relevant to older fraud victims. The first positions older victims of crime as weak and vulnerable and the second positions fraud victims generally as greedy and gullible. Using interviews with twenty-one Canadian volunteers who provide telephone support to older fraud victims (all seniors themselves), this article analyses the extent to which these two discourses are evident in the understandings of these volunteers. It finds that volunteers overwhelmingly perceive fraud to occur out of loneliness and isolation of the victim, and actively resist victim blaming narratives towards these individuals. While neither discourse is overly positive, the article discusses the implications of these discourses for the victims themselves and for their ability to access support.

Research has identified links between dating and aversive behavior such as aggression and bullying in adolescence, highlighting the need for studies that further our understanding of romantic relationships and their dynamics during this period. This study tested the associations between dating popularity and overt and relational aggression, social preference, and peer popularity. Of particular interest were the moderating roles of social preference and peer popularity in the association of aggression with dating popularity. Further moderation by gender was also explored. Participants were 478 ninth-graders (48% girls) with peer nomination scores for peer status, aggression, and dating popularity. Dating popularity was positively correlated with popularity, social preference, and overt and relational aggression. Regression models indicated that popular, overtly aggressive girls were seen as desirable dating partners by their male peers. Relational aggression was associated with dating popularity for both boys and girls, especially for youths who were well-liked by peers. These findings are interpreted in light of developmental-contextual perspectives on adolescent romantic relationships and Resource Control Theory.