Culture, Context, and Homicide of the Elderly

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the criminal victimization of elderly persons. Given that homicides of the elderly are thought to occur primarily in the context of robbery/burglary situations, this study seeks to identify situational as well as structural and cultural factors that influence the murder of older persons. In particular, it has been noted that Southern culture promotes a notion that one should ‘respect their elders.’ Using conservative Protestant affiliation as a proxy for Southern culture, this study also examines the relationship between Southern culture and homicide of the elderly. Findings show that Southern culture as reflected in conservative Protestant affiliation does not insulate the elderly from victimization.

Lifestyle, Routine Activities, and Felony-Related Eldercide

“…Frail and socially isolated older adults are poorly guarded by themselves and others and, thus, will be perceived as attractive and easy targets by potential felony, especially robbery, offenders (Fox & Levin, 1991;Kennedy & Silverman, 1990;Nelsen & Huff-Corzine, 1998;Weaver et al, 2004). Elderly victims are also more obedient during the course of crime incidents.…”

“…However, these models (Keil & Vito, 1991;Kennedy & Silverman, 1990;Nelsen & Huff-Corzine, 1998) of eldercide patterns did not include any direct measures of lifestyle and routine activities (e.g., living arrangement, employment and marital status, presence or absence of disability), so this explanation could not be explicitly tested. Weaver et al's (2004) study explored the association between a macro-level measure of the elderly population's lifestyle/routine daily activities (the percentage of older adults living alone) and county-level eldercide rates. Weaver et al found that the percentage of older adults living alone did not have the significant association with eldercide rates that would be expected by lifestyle/routine activities perspectives.…”

“…Even though the homicide victimization rate among older adults is much lower than that among nonelderly persons, continuing elderly population growth will almost certainly increase the absolute number of elderly homicide victimizations (Collins & Presnell, 2006;Krienert & Walsh, 2010;Weaver et al, 2004). Also, the various descriptive and multivariate studies discussed earlier indicate that the circumstance of elderly victimizations is more likely to be felony related than is the case for younger 190 Homicide Studies 17 (2) persons' victimizations.…”

Research: Perceptions of personal safety among older Australians

“…They also note that such news reports have electoral benefits for law and order policies, and financial benefits for insurance companies and security alarm firms. A further reason advanced [21] is that the decline in older people's physical functioning can make them feel more vulnerable and given their frailty they are more likely to sustain serious injuries than younger victims.…”

Feeling safe in one's neighbourhood: Variation by location among older Australians

“…Feeling safe in one's neighbourhood or local area is an important aspect of well‐being, particularly in old age 1,2 . However, there is an absence of large‐scale epidemiological studies investigating how representative samples of older populations living in different locations perceive their safety in their neighbourhood.…”