Crimes against the elderly are on the increase in many parts of the world. The people are a target because most of them have gathered wealth, which attracts their offenders. Moreover, some are abused because of their helpless and fragile states, which make them very much dependent on others (Cannell, Jetelina, Zavadsky, & Gonzalez, 2016). Consequently, the elderly become a target group for those people who need to use them as a means to gain something. This paper entails a research on the crimes that are committed against the elderly and the factors, which aggravate them.
Mishra & Patel (2013) report that the crimes against the elderly have highly increased in India, as the old are victims of abuse, murder, and hurt. The senior citizens' neighbors, family members, and domestic servants isolate them, terming them as a burden. Consequently, the above trends have affected the wellbeing of the elderly people both in their families and in the society. Mishra & Patel (2013) examine the factors, which cause fear of crime among the elderly people using the reports that were filed in different newspaper articles. According to the report referred to above, In India, the elderly or seniors citizens are those aged above 60 years. The category of people within the category has constantly been rising over the years as in 1961 it stood at 5.63% and 7.44% in 2011. Besides, the number rose from 2. 6 million to 96 million between 1951 and 2011. The rise is based on the increase in the age expectancy from 40 to 64 years (Mishra & Patel, 2013).
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Moving to the crimes against the senior citizens in India, The National Crime Records Bureau Report in 2010 showed that 32, 496 people had been murdered and 5,836 cases, which did not culminate in murder, were reported between 2001 and 2010. Consequently, the high numbers caught the attention of policy makers and that of the academicians. One of the studies revealed that the elderly people are abused in different ways: verbally 48%, physically 60%, emotionally 37%, and economically 35%. Moreover, 20 percent of the senior citizens in India feel neglected by their families and the society as well (Kratcoski & Edelbacher, 2016). Moreover, the report also cited criminal acts, molestations, and burglary. The study conducted in 2009 by the group for economic and social studies revealed that crimes against the body such as hurt, murder, attempt to murder and kidnapping are the most common types of crimes against the elderly in India (Mishra & Patel, 2013). Moreover, the report identified crime against property such as theft, robbery and burglary as well as dacoity and economic crimes such as criminal breach of trust, and cheating as the main types of crimes against the elders.
The report also identified the rising fear of crime against the elderly given the rising number of crimes against them (Mishra & Patel, 2013). Fear of crime refers to the emotional response of anxiety to crime and the dread associated with being a victim. It can occur in forms of personal risk, criminal victimization, and public thoughts and feelings among other forms. Fear of crime has also been referred to as the feeling of vulnerability and the lack of sense of security among a group. Mishra & Patel (2013) indicate the different factors that influence the fear of crime. The key factors of fear of crime are defensibility, the location of residence, vulnerability, and previous victimization. However, the most common one is the crime rate of an area, because it raises anxiety among the targeted group. The rate of occurrence is higher in urban areas, making the residents more fearful than those living in the rural areas. Incivilities, social or physical in the neighborhood also increase the fear and crime. The social l incivilities include loose dogs, inconsiderate neighbors, loiterers, public drinking, gangs, beggars, and unruly teenagers (Cannell, Jetelina, Zavadsky, & Gonzalez, 2016). On the other hand, physical incivility refers to the vandalized property, abandoned vehicles, deteriorated homes, vacant houses that all increase the fear of crime.
On the other hand, vulnerability also increases the fear of crime, and there are four groups who are more vulnerable: the poor, ethnic minorities, women, and the elderly. The vulnerability can either occur in the form of social or physical forms. Physical vulnerability implies a higher perception of sexual harassment, rape, and murder (Kratcoski & Edelbacher, 2016). The elderly feel that they cannot protect themselves physically, and the availability of unsafe environments such as pipes outside respondent residences may scale the vulnerability. On the other hand, social vulnerability is increased by to social networks absence, crime history, and income levels of an area.
The increased occurrence of crimes and the rising fear of crime affect the elderly people's mental and physical wellbeing. Furthermore, the occurrence of the brutal incidences reported by the media houses plays a huge role in increasing fear among the group. However, the most common shock among the scientists is the crime incidences that are committed by the elderly people's family members as Relatives and neighbors' crime commitment constitutes 43% of all crimes. The relatives and neighbors pose physical, financial, and mental threats to the elderly people in their lives (Cannell, Jetelina, Zavadsky, & Gonzalez, 2016). In fact, 25% of the crimes are committed by family members, especially sons and daughter-in-laws, servants, relatives, and neighbors. Moreover, the most responsible causes for the crimes are land and property disputes, living alone, caste rivalries, and the lack of attention of the police to crimes against rural factionalism and elderly. Some of the cases indicated that some sons and daughters in law have had their fathers kidnapped while others have paid people to kill their parents so that they inherit their property. There are also many cases of murder of elderly women after theft in their homes.
While strangers committed 42.9% of the crimes against the elderly, 14.7% occurred because of accidents that were because of the negligence on the part the municipal councils. Examples of the latter occurred when elders fell in potholes that were uncovered , or animals attacked them. Moreover, in other cases, neighbors mentally harassed, injured and stole from or murdered their elderly neighbors, an act that fully contradicts the expected moral standards since the elderly depend on their neighbors for support. On the other hand, Payne (2003) reports that the crimes against the older adults are underreported . However, he cites the facts that the available statistics indicate one million to two million elders are victims of abuse on an annual basis. However, Payne (2003) says that the elderly are also abused in institutions, and the figure cannot be included in the report since these are government institutions. According to Payne's definition, abuse includes sexual, financial, psychological, physical, or even neglect. Moreover, some reports show that women are more likely to be victims than men are while others show that men are more likely to be victimized than women are. Still, despite the fact that most of the victims know the identity of the offender, most are unwilling to share the identity. Moreover, Payne (2003) states that most of the abusers see the attack as justified and they blame the victim for the occurrences. Payne states that most times the caregiver is stressed out by the much expectations of the victim leading to abuse. The Consumer Law Center also states that the elderly people are mostly the victims of sweepstakes and telemarketing frauds.
In conclusion, the government policies have been more intensified on the subject of elder's abuse. These have been made with the intention of protecting the vulnerable target group and to ensure that the offenders do not take advantage of them. Consequently, the local administration has also been asked to look into all issues that would heighten the harm that the senior citizens face. The final recommendation has been for the family, relatives, and friends to show them more care as a way of reducing the crime rates.
References
Cannell, M. B., Jetelina, K. K., Zavadsky, M., & Gonzalez, J. R. (2016). Towards the development of a screening tool to enhance the detection of elder abuse and neglect by emergency medical technicians (EMTs): a qualitative study. BMC Emergency Medicine , 16 1-10. Doi: 10.1186/s12873-016-0084-3
Kratcoski, P. C., & Edelbacher, M. (2016). Trends in the Criminality and Victimization of the Elderly. Federal Probation , 80 (1), 58-63.
Mishra, A. J., & Patel, A. B. (2013). Crimes against the elderly in India: A content analysis of factors causing fear of crime. International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences, 8(1), 13.
Morton, H. (2017). Exploitation of the Elderly. State Legislatures , 43 (2), 6.
Payne, B. K. (2003). Justification for punishing crimes against the elderly: Perceptions of police chiefs, nursing home professionals, and students. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 38(1), 33-51. Doi: 10.1300/J076v38n01_04
