NCJ Number
110147
Date Published
1988
Length
18 pages
Annotation
The body of previous research on elderly offenders, which encompasses nearly a century, can be grouped into three broad categories: studies focusing on the amount and types of crime committed by the elderly, studies that explore the causes of elderly criminality, and those concerned with the problems that arise in the criminal justice processing of the elderly.
Abstract
Most studies of national arrest data indicate the elderly are most often arrested for assault, embezzlement, fraud larceny-theft, alcohol-related offenses, and less serious sex offenses. Crime levels for the elderly are likely to increase in the coming years. The elderly are most often arrested for alcohol-related offenses and for property offenses. There is little reason to project a change in the types of crime committed by the elderly. To cope with the projected increases in the number of elderly offenders, the criminal justice system may need to develop new programs or modify procedures to meet the needs of this group. Attempts to explain crime by the elderly have focused on multidisciplinary factors, but few analysts have attempted to reconcile potentially valuable causal theories with the data on crimes by the elderly. There is need for additional research, particularly regarding how the elderly are processed through the criminal justice system. 1 table.