Evaluating the Rhetoric of Crisis: A Case Study of Criminal Victimization of the Elderly

This article begins by documenting claims that victimization of the elderly has recently reached crisis proportions. Four definitions of crisis are offered, and the social science evidence relating victimization to each of these definitions is presented. It does not seem (1) that the elderly are victimized more often than persons in other age groups, (2) that the rate of increase in their victimization is greater than for other age groups, or (3) that they suffer more often than other age groups from violent crimes, though it is not yet known whether they suffer more physical or financial harm when they are victimized. It does seem (4) that the elderly fear crime more than younger persons and may be at home more often. Thus, the data that are presently available suggest that the victimization problem of elderly Americans can be more properly identified as a problem of fear rather than of actual victimization. The policy implications of this particular diagnosis of the problem are briefly discussed.