(Re)proposing problem-oriented policing as a framework for identifying new and enhanced ways to prevent the abuse of at-risk adults

ABSTRACT

It is recognized worldwide that evidence on what effectively prevents abuse of at-risk adults (including older people) is lacking. The purpose of this paper is to make an explicit, contemporary proposal as to why front-line workers and policy-makers interested in preventing the abuse of at-risk adults should adopt an opportunity-focused, problem-oriented policing framework from criminology. This paper will first position the proposal within the current context of responses to the abuse of at-risk adults. Following this, the paper will outline how the problem-oriented policing framework can develop targeted, collaborative, sustainable, and measurable prevention strategies intended to remove the opportunity for specific examples of abuse of at-risk adults.

KEYWORDS:

• At-risk adult abuse, crime prevention
• elder abuse
• opportunity theory
• problem-oriented policing

Author contributions

All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

No outside funding was used to support this work.