Hale et al: Criminology 2e 
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Test bankHale et al: Criminology 2e
Chapter 20
The first problem this chapter attempts to deal with is what exactly is meant by the term 'older'? Social scientists who have researched older persons have failed to come to uniform agreement on what age constitutes 'old'. However, although there is no definitive, nationwide or international standard for what constitutes an 'older offender', most researchers identify fifty as the threshold age. With this as its starting point the chapter looks at why older people are generally constructed as victims and why crimes committed by elders are absent from the criminological agenda. The literature suggests that, irrespective of age, those more concerned with the problem of crime and expressing most fear of crime are not necessarily the most likely to have experiences of victimisation. Indeed the statistics suggests old people are one of the lowest groups likely to experience victimisation. The chapter examines why it is then that older offenders are thought of as vulnerable and frail victims.
Older offenders like child victims, are an area that has tended to be overlooked by criminology. Older offenders tend to be associated with minor offences such as breach of the peace, shoplifting or driving under the influence of alcohol and the statistics do suggest that old offenders do constitute a small minority of the prison population. However, this population is likely to increase as people live longer and more offenders are given lengthy sentences. Older offenders who are likely to become inmates can generally be broken down into the following categories:
Older first time offender currently serving a term of imprisonment
The older offender who has had previous convictions but not served a prison sentence before
The recidivist who may have spent a significant amount of her or his life in and out of prison
Prisoners fulfilling a life sentence and who have grown old in prison
Long-term inmates
Despite this the literature on crime in later life has largely been descriptive, with little attempt to provide a theoretical perspective to account for growing numbers of older offenders encountering the criminal justice system. The chapter therefore goes on to consider recommendations for the treatment of older offenders including consideration of whether segregation or integration is the best policy for such offenders.
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