Using National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) Data to Understand Financial Exploitation of the Elderly: A Research Note

• NCJ Number: 234854
• Journal: Victims and Offenders Volume: 6 Issue: 2 Dated: April-June 2011 Pages: 117-136
• Author(s): Janet P. Stamatel; Jeanna M. Mastrocinque
• Date Published: April 2011
• Length: 20 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article examines national-level research aimed to collect data on elder abuse.

Abstract

While there has been an increasing awareness among policymakers and the public about the potential risks of financial exploitation faced by the elderly, there have been few national assessments of this problem due largely to methodological challengessuch as underreporting, small and nonrepresentative samples, inconsistent offense definitions, and infrequent or unsystematic data collection. This paper illustrates the extent to which the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data can address some of these methodological limitations in order to contribute to a baseline picture of the prevalence and characteristics of elderly financial exploitation in the United States. (Published Abstract)