Explaining Online Fraud Victimization of Older Adults via Cyber Routines and Lifestyles

The paper compares victim group characteristics: the differences between individuals under 55 and 55 and older, victimized by online fraud committed by a stranger. We test Cyber-Routine Activities Theory (cyber-RAT; Choi, 2008). In addition to active online lifestyle and computer familiarity, we include in the analysis independent variables such as living arrangements, occupation, and the willingness to report and ask for help. A representative sample of US citizens 18 or older was collected using a Dynata research panel in October 2020. We utilized one-way ANOVA on ranks for testing whether older and younger victims’ characteristics can be derived from the same independent variables. We find that older victims differ in characteristics from younger victims. Those who live alone or in a marriage with no children, and retired are significantly less victimized by online fraud than those who live with a partner and children and having full-time jobs. Besides, they are less likely to report their victimization, and their online activities and computer familiarity make them more vulnerable to online fraud than younger adults. Our findings suggest that older victims need prevention and intervention solutions designed especially for them. In an aging society, individuals will be increasingly active online and in the job market. Employers must provide internet security training for employees on manipulative online scams. Crime prevention programs must include awareness-raising on the role of reporting and how to ask for help. Relatives, friends, and caretakers need to be trained in preventing and early recognizing online fraud impacting older adults.

Dehumanising Ideology, Metaphors, and Psychological Othering as Evidence of Genocidal Intent

Evidence of genocidal intent is rarely overtly available. Prosecutors arguably avoid prosecuting the crime of genocide because of its too-high evidentiary threshold. This paper argues that psychology, linguistics, and biology provide some of the tools that courts should revert to in the proof of the dolus specialis. Every genocide is characterised by dehumanisation. There is an intrinsic connection between the génocidaire’s understanding of the victims as dehumanised ‘others’ and the intent to destroy a group. Social psychology has shown that the perpetrator sets apart the victim group as inferior, subhuman, and a threat to the in-group. Dehumanising discourse exposes the perpetrators’ understanding and ideologies and makes the victim group discernible. Linguistic research reveals the significance of metaphors for dehumanisation and intergroup hostility. Lastly, research on bio-signals such as heart rate, breathing, skin conductance response or eeg can assist in measuring the impact of dehumanisation and provide the courts with yet another tool to prove genocidal intent. Through recourse to a palette of conceptual and theoretical approaches, this paper provides an account of the ways in which a dark constellation of metaphor, dehumanising ideology, and psychological othering coalesce to form genocidal intent.

Homophobic Verbal and Bullying Victimization: Overlap and Emotional Impact

Introduction A relationship between homophobic verbal and bullying victimization has been established in the scientific literature, yet its findings remain debated. Similarly, the emotional impact of these phenomena may cross over, although not enough evidence is available to confirm this hypothesis. The study sought to examine this overlap of phenomena as well as their emotional impact, both independently and jointly, in a community-based school sample of adolescents with varying sexual orientations. Methods A total of 2089 Spanish students aged 11 to 18 years (M = 13.68, SD = 1.31) completed self-report measures assessing homophobic verbal and bullying victimization, sexual orientation, and emotional impact during 2017. Results Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents reported greater homophobic verbal and bullying victimization than their non-LGB peers. No differences were found in emotional impact based on sexual orientation or gender. However, differences were found for victimization type, with LGB youth overrepresented in the poly-victim group. A mediation effect of homophobic verbal victimization was observed between bullying victimization and negative emotional impact. Conclusions LGB students more frequently experience more types of victimization than their non-LGB peers. Homophobic victimization amplifies the likely emotional impact of bullying victimization, which should be considered in prevention programs and psychological interventions. Policy Implications These findings highlight the importance of sexual diversity in the study of bullying behavior. It is also identified as a key area when developing prevention programs aimed at eradicating this type of violence from our schools.

Almost Everyone Loses Meaning in Life From Social Exclusion, but Some More Than the Others: A Comparison Among Victims, Voluntary, and Forced Rejecters

Social exclusion has been a major societal concern because it hinders the attainment of needs for belonging and relationship. While we know much about the effects of social exclusion on victims and perpetrators, there is limited insight regarding how different types of rejecters (voluntary vs. forced) might affect important outcomes. The purpose of this study is to bridge this gap and to examine how different types of social exclusion (forced and voluntary) influence meaning in the life of participants. To this end, we conducted two experiments using two social exclusion paradigms: the recall paradigm and the Cyberball game. The results of the two experiments were consistent. Both experiments revealed that (1) the meaning in the life of the victim group and the forced rejecter group (i.e., those who were forced to exclude others) was significantly lower than this of the control group and the voluntary rejecter group (i.e., those choosing to exclude others). There were no significant differences between the victim group and the forced rejecter group, and there were no significant differences between the voluntary rejecter group and the control group. These results reveal that social exclusion not only negatively affects the victims of exclusion but also reduces the meaning in the life of forced rejecters. These findings are specific, and they show that the types of will in exclusion can create differences in the effects of social exclusion on the rejecters.

Perceived warmth of offending group moderates the effect of intergroup apologies

The stereotype content model provides a framework for understanding contextual and relational factors that may explain why some intergroup apologies are ineffective. Using actual and fictional scenarios, we examined whether the apology–forgiveness relationship and the apology–remorse relationship were dependent on the victim-group members’ perceived warmth of the offending group. Studies 1 ( N = 101) and 2 ( N = 109) demonstrated that the perceived warmth of the offending group moderated the influence of apology on forgiveness. The interaction effect between apology and forgiveness and that between apology and perceived remorse were qualified in three-way interactions in Studies 3 ( N = 235) and 4 ( N = 586). The warmth-by-apology interaction was detectable among those who were highly offended by the incident. In all four experiments, we found an indirect effect of perceived warmth on forgiveness through perceived remorse. The perceived lack of warmth associated with offending groups may help explain the muted effectiveness of intergroup apologies.

Moral Disengagement, Empathy, and Cybervictim’s Representation as Predictive Factors of Cyberbullying among Italian Adolescents

This study aimed to evaluate which aspects of moral disengagement (MD), empathy, and representations of the victim’s experience (VER) could be predictors of cyberbullying (CB). One hundred and eight-nine students (11–17 years old) completed 3 self-report questionnaires: An MD scale, an empathy scale, and a CB questionnaire. In relation to the personal experience of CB, four groups were identified: Victim, bully, bully/victim, and no experience with CB. The linear bivariate correlation analysis shows correlations between empathy and VER, between empathy and MD, and between MD and VER. A multinomial logistic regression identified which predictors could increase a subject’s probability of belonging to one of the four groups regarding the personal experience of CB (victim, bully, bully/victim, no experience). Findings highlighted that low cognitive empathy might increase the probability for a student to belong to the bullies’ group, rather than the victims’ group. Furthermore, low perception of the consequences of CB on the victim might increase the probability of belonging to the bully, bully/victim, and no experience groups. Then, a high score in the diffusion of responsibility was a significant predictor of belonging to the victim group rather than the no experience group. Results from this study confirm the need for preventive measures against CB, including the empowerment of cognitive empathy, decreasing the diffusion of responsibility, and increasing the awareness of the consequences of CB on the victim.

Disminución de la ansiedad en las víctimas del bullying durante el confinamiento por el COVID-19

Los factores estresantes asociados a la pandemia por el COVID 19 han tenido importantes consecuencias en la salud mental de muchos adolescentes, sin embargo, es posible que este confinamiento junto con los medios digitales disponibles para el aprendizaje y la interacción social hayan supuesto un alivio para aquellos que eran víctimas de bullying. En esta investigación se comparan las puntuaciones que han obtenido 276 adolescentes (94 víctimas de bullying y 182 no víctimas) de entre 12 y 14 años, en ansiedad, depresión, rendimiento académico y ciberbullying antes y después del confinamiento. Antes del confinamiento las víctimas obtuvieron puntuaciones significativamente mayores en ansiedad, depresión y ciberbullying y menores en rendimiento académico. Durante el confinamiento las diferencias en ansiedad se invirtieron, siendo significativamente menores en el caso de las víctimas de bullying, quienes, además, obtuvieron puntuaciones significativamente menores en depresión y en ciberbullying que antes de la pandemia. Sin embargo, el rendimiento académico descendió significativamente en el grupo no-víctimas mientras que no se apreciaron cambios significativos en las puntuaciones de ciberbullying. The stressors associated with the pandemic by COVID 19 have had important consequences on the mental health of many adolescents, however, it is possible that this confinement along with the digital media available for learning and social interaction have provided relief for those who were victims of bullying.. This research compares the scores obtained by 76 adolescents (94 victims of bullying and 182 not victims) between 12 and 14 years old, in anxiety, depression, academic performance and cyberbullying before and after confinement. Before confinement, the victims obtained significantly higher scores in anxiety, depression and cyberbullying and lower scores in academic performance. During confinement, the differences in anxiety were reversed, being significantly lower in the case of victims of bullying, who also obtained significantly lower scores in depression and cyberbullying than before confinement. However, academic performance decreased significantly in the non-victim group, while no significant changes in cyberbullying scores were observed.

Zulliger R-Optimized Application in Children Victims of Sexual Violence and Cancer

Child sexual violence can cause serious damage to the psychosocial development of its victims. Assessments in this context require the use of several psychological tests with proven validity for this purpose. This study aimed to assess children victims of sexual violence using the Zulliger R-Optimized application. The sample consisted of 37 children of both sexes, aged from seven to 13 years old (M = 10.92), distributed in three groups: Sexual Violence Victims (SVV), Cancer Patients (CP) and the Non-Victim Group (NVG). The statistical analyses were performed using the Mann-Whiney and one-way ANOVA tests. The Zulliger variables concerning the clusters Interpersonal Relationship (GHR, PHR, GHR:PHR, p), Self-Image (MOR) and Processing (W:M) showed statistical differences when the SVV group was compared to the other groups. The Zulliger R-Optimized application shows promising results in assessing SVV children, indicating its usefulness for assessments in this context.

The Dynamics of Implicit Intergroup Biases of Victims and Ex-combatants in Post-conflict Scenarios

Strong group identities arise in intergroup conflict scenarios and perpetuate sectarian violence even in post-conflict scenarios. In particular, out-group negative implicit associations are predictors of decreased intergroup forgiveness, as well as increased distrust and aggression against the out-group. Thus, the presence of implicit intergroup (i.e., ex-combatants and victims) biases seems to be a relevant factor in post-conflict scenarios. Here, we aimed to explore whether negative biases toward the out-group are boosted by (a) previous exposure to conflict violence or (b) identification with an armed violent group. One hundred and twenty-eight participants, 65 ex-combatants from Colombian guerrillas and 63 victims of the armed conflict, were assessed with a modified version of the implicit association test (IAT). Our results revealed that the victim group showed a significant negative bias against ex-combatants. However, no bias toward the out-group (i.e., victims) or in-group favoritism was observed in the ex-combatant group. Similarly, we found that IAT scores were not associated with sociodemographical variables (i.e., sex, years of education, or type of dwelling), the levels of combat exposure, victimization armed-conflict-related experiences, or child abuse antecedents. Our results showed an unexpected lack of in-group bias in ex-combatants, potentially triggered by the effect of current demobilization and reintegration processes. Thus, negative associations with the out-group will persist in the framework of societal condemnation of the out-group. In contrast, these negative biases will tend to be abolished when entering in conflict with larger societal reintegration processes. The results reinforce the idea that reintegration may benefit from interventions at the societal level, including all actors of the conflict. In addition, our findings highlight the importance of implementing victim interventions aimed at reducing stigma and revengeful actions in spaces of collective disarmament.

Conceptualizing the National Group for the Crime of Genocide: Is Law Able to Account for Identity Fault Lines?

“National group” is one of four victim groups that is explicitly protected by international criminal law from genocide. At the core of any genocide lies an element of identity. Yet, the fixed group categories that the law provides for seemingly do not conform to the fluidity of group identities. Is the law at all able to account for identity fault lines? By recourse to research on identity construction and otherness, this article argues that the interpretation of the law of genocide can benefit, structurally and legally, from insight into the forces at work before a genocide erupts. In recognizing the perpetrator’s definitional power over the victim group, the courts should increasingly focus their investigation into the mind of the génocidaires and their perception of the national victim group. In addition to discussing the dynamics of intergroup conflicts leading up to a genocide, this article also looks at the jurisprudence of criminal courts on the issues of nationality, national groups, and national identity for the crime of genocide.