Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T01:02:34.875Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Role of Senior Citizens in Crime Prevention

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Ezzat A. Fattah
Ezzat A. Fattah
Affiliation:
Department of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Elderly people have a relatively low likelihood of becoming a victim of crime, compared with other age groups. Theft rather than violence constitutes the bulk of offences against them. Criminological research indicates that it is not vulnerability but lifestyle and the amount of time spent out of the home which are pre-disposing factors. However, when offences occur they have a disproportionately high personal impact. Ways of reducing both exposure and impact are discussed. These include (1) Hardening the targets (2) Creating more protective environments (3) Encouraging self-help (4) Entrancing awareness of crime and prevention techniques (5) Risk avoidance.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , December 1986 , pp. 471 - 480
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

NOTES

1 Hochstedler, Ellen, Crime Against the Elderly in 26 Cities. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of justice Statistics, Washington, D.C. 1981.Google Scholar

2 Hindelang, M. et al. , Victims of Personal Crime: an Empirical Foundation for a Theory of Personal Victimisation. Ballinger, Cambridge, Mass., 1978.Google Scholar

3 Garofalo, J., ‘Lifestyle and victimization: an update’, in Fattah, Ezzat A. (ed.), From Crime Policy to Victim Policy. Macmillan, London, 1985, pp. 135–155.Google Scholar

4 Colijn, G. J., ‘Some aspects of crime and aging in the welfare state: A European perspective’, in Lester, David (ed.), The Elderly Victim of Crime. Charles Thomas, Springfield, Ill., 1981, pp. 61–82.Google Scholar

5 Ibid.

6 Teski, Marea, ‘Environment, crime and the elderly’, in Lester, David (ed.) The Elderly Victim of Crime. Charles Thomas, Springfield, Ill., 1981, pp. 45–60Google Scholar

7 Shell, Donna J., Protection of the Elderly: a Study of Elder Abuse Manitoba Council on Aging, Winnipeg, 1982.Google Scholar

8 Antunes, G. E. et al. , Patterns of personal crime against the elderly: findings from a national survey. The Gerontologist., 17, 4 (1977), 321–327.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

9 Teski, , 1981, op. cit.Google Scholar

10 Baldwin, J., The role of victim in certain property offences. The Criminal Law Review (1974), 06 353–358.Google Scholar

11 Newman, O., Design guidelines for Creating Defensible Space. National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, Washington D.C. 1976.Google Scholar

12 Antunes, G. E. et al. op. cit.Google Scholar

13 Hindelang, M. et al. op. cit.Google Scholar

14 Block, R., Violent Crime. D. C. Heath, Lexington, Mass., 1977.Google Scholar

15 Gibson, L., Linden, R. and Johnson, S., A situational theory of rape. Canadian Journal of Crimology., 22, 1 (1980), 51–65.Google Scholar

16 Schack, S. and Frank, R. S., Police service delivery to the elderly. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science., 438 (1978), 84–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar