Conceptualizing crimes against older persons: elder abuse, domestic violence, white-collar offending, or just regular ‘old’ crime

Abstract

Past research does not differentiate between the types of crimes committed against the elderly. This study examines the similarities and differences between the multiple types of offenses committed against older persons. The current study uses data drawn from 294 abuse, neglect, and exploitation cases with an aim toward differentiating between elder abuse, elder domestic violence, elder white-collar crime, and general crime. Cross tabulations were used to examine the relationship between offense type and victim, as well as situational characteristics. A series of multivariate logistic regression models were employed to examine which characteristics were associated with the different offense types. Results show that victim characteristics vary in the different offense categories, and specific offense types are tied to the offense categories. The results also show that caregiver burden is more common in elder abuse cases involving daughters as offenders. Although white-collar crimes targeting older victims were more likely to occur in the workplace, a sizable percentage of the white-collar crimes (about one-fourth) occurred in the victim's home. Efforts to respond to crimes against the elderly, as well as theoretical explanations for this class of offending must acknowledge that key differences exist between subtypes of offenses.

Keywords::

• elder abuse
• family violence
• crimes against older persons

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by Award 04–4 from the Commonwealth of Virginia's Alzheimer's and Related Diseases Research Award Fund, administered by the Virginia Center on Aging, Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christina Policastro

Christina Policastro, MS, received her MS from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2010. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Criminal Justice and Criminology at Georgia State University. Her research interests are elder abuse, domestic violence, and victimization.

Randy Gainey

Dr Brian K. Payne is professor and chair of the Department of Criminal Justice at Georgia State University. He received his PhD in 1993 in Criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on elder abuse, crime policies, family violence, and community-based sanctions. He is the author of five books including Crime and Elder Abuse: An Integrated Perspective, Crime in the Home Health Care Field, and Family Violence and Criminal Justice and he has published more than 120 scholarly journal articles. His works have been reviewed in outlets such as the New England Journal of Medicine, AgeVenture News, and The Gerontologist. He is a recipient of numerous awards including the Southern Criminal Justice Association's Outstanding Educator Award and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Department of Criminology Distinguished Scholar Award.

Brian K. Payne

Dr Randy Gainey is professor and chair of the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Old Dominion University. He received his PhD in Sociology from the University of Washington. His research appears in outlets including Criminology, Justice Quarterly, and Theoretical Criminology. He has co-authored three books: Drugs and Policing: A Scientific Approach, Family Violence and Criminal Justice: A Life Course Perspective and Deviance and Social Control: A Sociological Perspective.