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Elderly - Victims and Deviants

NCJ Number
105603
Editor(s)
C D Chambers, J H Lindquist, O Z White, M T Harter
Date Published
1987
Length
219 pages
Annotation
Twelve papers by specialists from a variety of fields discuss criminality, drug use and abuse, and victimization among the elderly.
Abstract
The first two papers identify social and cultural prejudices against the elderly and discuss the expansive health needs of the elderly and their limited resources to pay for health care. A paper on drug use and misuse by the elderly considers patterns of prescription drug use, over-the-counter drug use, and drug misuse. Other papers pertaining to drug use among the elderly address whether it is victimization or deviancy, medication procedures for the elderly, and the use of tranquilizing medications in nursing homes for symptom relief and behavior control. The paper on elderly victims of domestic violence presents a historical overview of the problem and discusses its incidence and factors associated with abuse of the elderly. A review of the adequacy of research on elderly crime victims considers substantive and methodological issues raised by the research and proposes future research and means of addressing the problem. Other papers examine arrest dispositions for elderly defendants, crime patterns among the elderly over time, and alchol abuse and drunk driving among the elderly. Chapter tables and references. For individual papers, see NCJ 105604-08.