Justice System Response to Elderly Criminality

Abstract

Violators of the criminal laws can be found in all age categories, including those defined as elderly offenders (65 and older). Older offenders have been convicted of almost all of the same types of crimes as those in other age categories, including violent crimes, such as murder, rape, armed robbery, and aggravated assault; property crimes, such as theft, destruction of property, and fraud; and crimes generally associated with organized crime or white-collar crime, such as extortion, money laundering, bribery, and corruption as well as being convicted of public order crimes, such as public intoxication and loitering. The severity of the crimes of the older offenders ranges from the most serious felony crime, such as aggravated murder, to minor misdemeanor crimes, such as petty theft. Many, perhaps the majority of older offenders, are situational offenders, while others are considered chronic or habitual offenders.