Elderly Victims of Property Crimes
摘要
It is difficult to determine what proportion of the elderly are a victim of property crimes for a number of reasons. On the international level, the laws of the countries that constitute the world population often vary in of what acts the statutes of the countries define as property crimes. Thus, an act that is defined as criminal in one country may be considered quite acceptable in another country. In addition, there is no universal agreement on what age constitutes elderly. Also as shown in the findings of research, the majority of the elderly victims who were victims of some forms of a property crime do not report the victimization to any official. Thus, it is only through some types of self-report victimization survey is sufficient information gained to enable a researcher to make a reasonable estimate of the total. However, even with these limitations on having exact information, it is reasonable to assume that the proportion of victims of property crimes who are elderly has increased and will continue to increase based on the fact that the proportion of the world population who are considered elderly (60 and above) is increasing. In this chapter, the types of acts that are defined as property crimes are considered as well as estimates of the proportion the elderly who are the victims of these crimes. Also, the types of property crimes for which the elderly are victims are discussed and illustrated. The types of acts in which there appears to be universal agreement in various countries as constituting property crimes and acts that appear to be specific to a particular country are defined and illustrated.