The offenders were either Northern Protestant/Catholic whites or Southern Protestant blacks; were middle, nonabused children who came from large, two-parent households and described their childhoods as positive experiences; were uneducated, unskilled, and possessed low-level intellectual ability; and had a high incidence of alcoholism and unstable relationships. Data were obtained from (1) information and records kept by the nine Pennsylvania State correctional institutions; (2) computer records and data from the Pennsylvania Bureau of Correction, Camp Hill, Pa.; (3) data preserved at the Pennsylvania Bureau of Correction's archives; and (4) information and accumulated records kept at the Consilium Headquarters, Pittsburgh, Pa. In terms of age at commitment, the data found two distinct groups of individuals with their own characteristics: (1) young adult offenders, and (20) geriatric delinquents. The data also found differing ages at which individuals would commit their first person, property, sex, or miscellaneous crime, pointed to a pattern in the commitment of crimes, and indicated that rate of recidivism was found to correlate with the types of crimes. The need for a national study on the elderly offender is suggested. A total of 38 tables are included. Two appendixes contain a clinical case study and historical data. A bibliography and 81 footnotes are appended. (Author abstract modified)