Elderly Homicide Offender (From Elderly Criminals, P 79-91, 1984, Evelyn S Newman et al, ed. - See NCJ-94544)

• NCJ Number: 94550
• Author(s): W Wilbanks; D D Murphy
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 13 pages
• Sale Source: Oelgeschlager, Gunn and Hain Publishers, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

A forensic psychiatrist compares the case histories of 43 elderly sex offenders and 16 elderly violent offenders with those of persons 30 years or younger undergoing treatment for the same types of criminal behavior.

Abstract

The comparison group of young offenders was randomly selected and no attempt was made to match the two groups with respect to legal charges. Differences in intelligence and former occupation were not significant in the sex offenders. The elderly sex offenders were more likely to have been married, though at the time of the offense about 70 percent of the elderly offenders and 50 percent of the young sex offenders were rated as having a below-average marital relationship. The elderly offenders had significantly fewer social contacts. They were likely to have known their victim, while the younger sex offender chose strangers and was less likely to have been arrested for rape or attempted rape. The sexual activity was rather passive for most (79 percent) of the elderly offenders. Also, they never used threats or force. Furthermore, the elderly sex offender committed the offense at his or his victims's home. Many had had previous sex offense records. Organic brain disease was found in only 14 percent of the elderly sex offenders, and the sex offender group, while often lonely and socially isolated, did not appear to be any more handicapped in this way than the generally elderly population. Among the violent offender test groups, the young were most likely to suffer from antisocial personality disorder while the older violent offenders largely suffered from a functional mental disorder such as schizophrenia or manic depression or paranoid psychosis. In fact, among the violent elderly group, organic and functional mental disabilities combined accounted for 75 percent of the group. Most elderly offenders committed their offense in their own or their victim's home compared to the younger group, and domestic quarrels accounted for 44 percent of the elderly offenders' attacks compared with 6 percent of the young men's. Delusional motives predominated nondomestic attacks among the elderly. In many other respects, the elderly violent offender resembled his youthful counterpart in terms of hostile feelings toward victim and offending under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Twenty-five references are included.