Crime prevention series

Introduction

Published in:
Crime prevention for older Australians
Marianne Pinkerton James
Canberra : Australian Institute of Criminology, 1993
ISBN 0 642 18631 6 ; ISSN 1031-5330
(Crime prevention series) ; pp. 1-3

Surveys in Australia and throughout the world have shown consistently that older people are far less likely than younger people to be victims of crimes such as robbery, theft, fraud, rape and homicide (see Appendix 1). However, many elderly people are unduly fearful of such crimes and this fear can have an adverse effect on their quality of life. With any crime prevention strategy, therefore, the objective must be to reduce fear to such an extent that older people are able to attain maximum enjoyment from their day-to-day lives, while maintaining their independence to remain in their own homes and communities as long as possible.

The extent, as well as the fear, of the more covert phenomena of abuse and neglect is more difficult to gauge. In this instance, abuse and neglect includes any physical, psychological or economic ill-treatment inflicted on an older person in either the home or an aged-persons institution and is often referred to as elder abuse. It is equally important that strategies be developed to protect older people and to prevent any form of elder abuse.

The vulnerability of the aged varies considerably. Health, gender, race, ethnicity and socioeconomic circumstances all affect the capacity of older people to cope with the material, financial, physical and psychological consequences of crime. On the other hand, the geographical dispersion of crime is determined by population make-up, population densities and population mobility. As a result, these variables all interact in a complex way to determine how both crime, and the fear of crime, are experienced by different people in different places for different reasons.

However, low victimisation rates, together with the abstract notion of what actually constitutes a fear of crime, have tended to generate disagreement regarding the extent of resources and support which should be allocated for crime prevention and fear reduction strategies for older Australians. Any form of social intervention does, after all, involve the deployment of finite economic and human resources. To begin to unravel this dilemma the following questions must be addressed. Should revenue be allocated specifically for programs which prevent crime against the elderly, or should more general crime prevention efforts which benefit all members of the population including the elderly be undertaken? Should funds be set aside to promote programs which alleviate fear of crime by the elderly? Should separate legal or social service remedies be implemented to deal with elder abuse, or are initiatives directed against the more general problem of family violence adequate? In other words, is it necessary to take into account the unique characteristics of elderly populations and their particular types of victimisation and social experiences? Are the elderly a special group in need of special protection?

This book will examine these basic questions by exploring both the theoretical and the empirical principles of crime prevention strategies. By focusing on the need to look at specific problems in specific areas, it will investigate the potential for increasing the perception of confidence felt by older people, both in themselves and in the wider community. An analysis will be made of the dual individual and interactive roles which could be realised by older peoples' organisations, the community, the police and government at all levels, as well as the participation of older people themselves. Most significantly, this book will emphasise that any crime prevention programs developed should reduce, and not enhance, any fear experienced by older Australians.