Violators of the criminal laws can be found in all age categories, including those defined as elderly offenders (65 and older). Older offenders have been convicted of almost all of the same types of crimes as those in other age categories, including violent crimes, such as murder, rape, armed robbery, and aggravated assault; property crimes, such as theft, destruction of property, and fraud; and crimes generally associated with organized crime or white-collar crime, such as extortion, money laundering, bribery, and corruption as well as being convicted of public order crimes, such as public intoxication and loitering. The severity of the crimes of the older offenders ranges from the most serious felony crime, such as aggravated murder, to minor misdemeanor crimes, such as petty theft. Many, perhaps the majority of older offenders, are situational offenders, while others are considered chronic or habitual offenders. Determining the appropriate criminal justice response for the older criminal offender is often difficult. Except for the very young, those children who do not have the capacity to understand the difference between right and wrong and in those cases in which a person who is found guilty of committing an act that is defined as a crime in the criminal code but because the person falls into an age category, the person is legally considered a juvenile and if convicted of the act is defined as a juvenile delinquent. Generally, the criminal codes do not take an upper age into consideration. Perhaps, one reason for not legally considering “old age” or elderly as a criteria in the development of criminal codes is there is no standard way of determining what age is old. Although the age of 65 is often used to determine persons who qualify for special programs or for completing research on a matter when age is considered a major variable, old age is not considered as a mitigating factor in the sentencing a person convicted of a crime, unless the person’s age is found to be correlated with other factors, such as mental illness. In this chapter, various responses of the justice system to older offenders are considered, based on the specific situational factors of the older offenders and their special needs. If the offender has mental health or substance abuse problems, the needs of both the older offender and the community can best be served by participation in a diversion program. The Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) designed to assess the appropriate response for those offenders with special needs is presented in this chapter.

Justice System Response to Elderly Criminality

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发表日期：

2025年

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Peter C. Kratcoski

摘要

Violators of the criminal laws can be found in all age categories, including those defined as elderly offenders (65 and older). Older offenders have been convicted of almost all of the same types of crimes as those in other age categories, including violent crimes, such as murder, rape, armed robbery, and aggravated assault; property crimes, such as theft, destruction of property, and fraud; and crimes generally associated with organized crime or white-collar crime, such as extortion, money laundering, bribery, and corruption as well as being convicted of public order crimes, such as public intoxication and loitering. The severity of the crimes of the older offenders ranges from the most serious felony crime, such as aggravated murder, to minor misdemeanor crimes, such as petty theft. Many, perhaps the majority of older offenders, are situational offenders, while others are considered chronic or habitual offenders. Determining the appropriate criminal justice response for the older criminal offender is often difficult. Except for the very young, those children who do not have the capacity to understand the difference between right and wrong and in those cases in which a person who is found guilty of committing an act that is defined as a crime in the criminal code but because the person falls into an age category, the person is legally considered a juvenile and if convicted of the act is defined as a juvenile delinquent. Generally, the criminal codes do not take an upper age into consideration. Perhaps, one reason for not legally considering “old age” or elderly as a criteria in the development of criminal codes is there is no standard way of determining what age is old. Although the age of 65 is often used to determine persons who qualify for special programs or for completing research on a matter when age is considered a major variable, old age is not considered as a mitigating factor in the sentencing a person convicted of a crime, unless the person’s age is found to be correlated with other factors, such as mental illness. In this chapter, various responses of the justice system to older offenders are considered, based on the specific situational factors of the older offenders and their special needs. If the offender has mental health or substance abuse problems, the needs of both the older offender and the community can best be served by participation in a diversion program. The Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) designed to assess the appropriate response for those offenders with special needs is presented in this chapter.