Anthony,

Thank you and when I get the research completed on my paper I will contact the person you reference for comments and input.  In fact, perhaps she will be willing to look at at a pilot questionnaire?

Dear Pierlow, 

I am doing my dissertation on the cognitive distortion of sex ofenders, from the data I have collected, the age-range for elderly can be up to over 80 years old. With the major trends in focusing the child victim of sexual abused, the elderly may be overloked. 

The pattern as observed is more in a remote area when their children grown up, maried, or worked in the city area.

Maybe you can look into that perspective.

In term of the types of crime, as you referred to online-dating. In that instance, you may want to look into the pattern of in selecting vulnerable victims. Online-dating, would then be individual having interest in online website, while the fraud may be more of buying things, or worsen, the credit cards and etc. 

But there are a certain distinctive pattern as well, !y being online, = there are distances, whether by kilometers or relationship. So, the criminal will have to engange in certain behaviour to win victim's trust. Thus it is definitely differ group from the immediate physical instance, where "getting trust" is not necessary an isue for a rapist to rape, but more upon other factors.

If I may suggest, maybe you want to specify the focus, whether on victim vulnerability (age as variable), which the theory is the victim precipitation (being in certain websites and trusting stranger online) or opportunity (old age and live alone).

Another thing you may want to look into in term of fraud in elderly, are the elderly with with dementia, or other illness related to neuro-degerative diseases. Their mental capability may be deficit due to the age, thus making them more vulnerable than young? 

Maybe if you want to look into that. 

Or the type of fraud, that occur in the elderly home, when they feel high tendency of loneliness and may feel very attached to the health service provider, giving all assets to them. 

Maybe you may want to look into the attachment theory, (which I am doing research within this context as well). 

The attachment theory (Bowlby, 1976) has been used in adult romantic relationship, the addiction of social networking, also in intimate partner violence, and several interpersonal phenomenon. 

I hope these informations are helpful for you, more or less.

Good luck with your research! 

Yours sincerely,

Siriporn Pipatshukiat

Siriporn,

Thank you for the information you have provided it will be useful in my final paper for this course.  In my research I did find several reports from the late 1980's that showed the elderly were less likely to be victims due to their experience of age.  However, the question is now that there is a world wide connection, and not being as technical savvy as younger people are they also more vulnerable.