UNDERSTANDING AND RESPONDING TO CRIME AND OLDER PEOPLE

2Since the 1970s there has been an increase in concern about older people as victims of crime. Initially, interest was generated by the assumption that older people were targets of crime and suffered substantial victimisation. This assumption was quickly challenged by the collection and analysis of national crime statistics and victim surveys which showed very clearly and consistently that, in fact, the opposite was true – older people were by far the least likely age group in the community to suffer from criminal victimisation. Despite this finding, research did not abandon its interest and instead began to investigate other aspects of crime against older people. In particular, research focussed on the impact of crime on older victims as well as older people’s fear of crime. For approximately a decade, a consensus existed that older people suffered the consequences of crime (physical, psychological and financial) more severely than younger age groups, and that older people also had higher levels of fear of crime despite their lower rates of victimisation. From the 1980s onwards, however, these early certainties have been challenged. The literature is now replete with studies which question much of the early work. Currently, therefore, there is almost no consensus within the research community regarding either the extent or the impact of criminal victimisation, or the level of fear of crime, which exists amongst older people. In short