danielle
05-14-2003, 09:18 PM
AMERICA'S AGING CRIME SCENE:
PERPS, VICTIMS AND JUSTICE
http://www.asaging.org/at/at-201/Americas.html
McGruff the crime dog is getting grayer. Even though crime is down nationwide, issues of crime that involve older people--as victims, perpetrators or jurors--are calling for increased attention.
The adjacent photograph by internationally known photojournalist Ed Kashi was taken at the Alabama Prison for the Aged and Infirm. The 200-bed facility in Hamilton, Ala., is one of the few such institutions in the nation--for now. According to Allen J. Beck, chief of corrections statistics for the federal Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the state and federal prison population tripled from 1980 to 1996 to a total of 1.2 million prisoners. Beck stressed that those sentenced at age 55 or older have long remained close to 3.3% of the prison population (1% are 65 or older), but their "absolute numbers have gone up remarkably." The inmate population ages 55-plus has surpassed 30,000, up from 9,500 in 1980, because of such tough-on-crime measures as mandatory sentencing for drug-related infractions, aggressive prosecution of sex crimes and emphasis on increasing arrests throughout the United States.
Among men and women age 55-plus, 39.3% more people per 100,000 members of the U.S. population were sentenced in 1996 than in 1990. Beck also noted a distinct "middle aging" of prisons during the same period, as the number of young people who are imprisoned declined. According to the recently issued BJS analysis, "Prisoners in 1997", the sharpest rise between 1990 and 1996 was a 75% jump in sentencing of those ages 40_44. The increase was 71% for people ages 45_54.
Furthermore, Beck said, "People don't understand that a large proportion of the older prisoners have only recently arrived. These are not prisoners who arrived in their 20s and aged there." He said that two-thirds of older perpetrators have been incarcerated for less than five years, and one in four has been behind bars for under a year.
Sentencing for new crimes is especially high among older perpetrators of violent transgressions. Violence accounts for 42.6% of all crimes for those 55 or older, compared with a rate of 28.5% of violent crimes for those ages 45_54, and 24.1% for those 35_44. For prisoners ages 55 or older, 23.4% of all convictions are for rape or sexual assault, compared to only 7.3% for people 35_44.
Also, homicide accounts for 7.4% of crimes among people 55 or older sentenced in 1996. This murder rate, Beck said, "is far larger than for other groups. And typically these are not stranger-on-stranger crimes" but are committed against someone known to the older person. Beck noted further that among prisoners ages 45 or older in 1996, violent crimes amount to 37.2% of all offenses by whites but only 23.1% for African Americans. "Older black offenders are disproportionately sentenced for drug-related crimes, 40.4% versus 21.7% for white," he said. More than half of these infractions are for drug trafficking.
Overall, most casualties of crime, especially serious violations, are younger people. BJS figures show that those ages 50 or older, 30% of the nation's population, constitute only 12% of the country's murder victims and 7% of those subjected to serious violent crimes. Yet elderly victims are often devastated and find physical and mental recovery far more difficult than younger people. This "In Focus" section takes a closer look at the complexities of criminal activity, from the alarming rise in fraud against elders to policies that bar older people from adding their wisdom to jury pools in many areas. Along the way, articles describe some "Crimestopper" programs in aging that would get the nod from Dick Tracy.
--Paul Kleyman, Editor
Aging Today
PERPS, VICTIMS AND JUSTICE
http://www.asaging.org/at/at-201/Americas.html
McGruff the crime dog is getting grayer. Even though crime is down nationwide, issues of crime that involve older people--as victims, perpetrators or jurors--are calling for increased attention.
The adjacent photograph by internationally known photojournalist Ed Kashi was taken at the Alabama Prison for the Aged and Infirm. The 200-bed facility in Hamilton, Ala., is one of the few such institutions in the nation--for now. According to Allen J. Beck, chief of corrections statistics for the federal Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the state and federal prison population tripled from 1980 to 1996 to a total of 1.2 million prisoners. Beck stressed that those sentenced at age 55 or older have long remained close to 3.3% of the prison population (1% are 65 or older), but their "absolute numbers have gone up remarkably." The inmate population ages 55-plus has surpassed 30,000, up from 9,500 in 1980, because of such tough-on-crime measures as mandatory sentencing for drug-related infractions, aggressive prosecution of sex crimes and emphasis on increasing arrests throughout the United States.
Among men and women age 55-plus, 39.3% more people per 100,000 members of the U.S. population were sentenced in 1996 than in 1990. Beck also noted a distinct "middle aging" of prisons during the same period, as the number of young people who are imprisoned declined. According to the recently issued BJS analysis, "Prisoners in 1997", the sharpest rise between 1990 and 1996 was a 75% jump in sentencing of those ages 40_44. The increase was 71% for people ages 45_54.
Furthermore, Beck said, "People don't understand that a large proportion of the older prisoners have only recently arrived. These are not prisoners who arrived in their 20s and aged there." He said that two-thirds of older perpetrators have been incarcerated for less than five years, and one in four has been behind bars for under a year.
Sentencing for new crimes is especially high among older perpetrators of violent transgressions. Violence accounts for 42.6% of all crimes for those 55 or older, compared with a rate of 28.5% of violent crimes for those ages 45_54, and 24.1% for those 35_44. For prisoners ages 55 or older, 23.4% of all convictions are for rape or sexual assault, compared to only 7.3% for people 35_44.
Also, homicide accounts for 7.4% of crimes among people 55 or older sentenced in 1996. This murder rate, Beck said, "is far larger than for other groups. And typically these are not stranger-on-stranger crimes" but are committed against someone known to the older person. Beck noted further that among prisoners ages 45 or older in 1996, violent crimes amount to 37.2% of all offenses by whites but only 23.1% for African Americans. "Older black offenders are disproportionately sentenced for drug-related crimes, 40.4% versus 21.7% for white," he said. More than half of these infractions are for drug trafficking.
Overall, most casualties of crime, especially serious violations, are younger people. BJS figures show that those ages 50 or older, 30% of the nation's population, constitute only 12% of the country's murder victims and 7% of those subjected to serious violent crimes. Yet elderly victims are often devastated and find physical and mental recovery far more difficult than younger people. This "In Focus" section takes a closer look at the complexities of criminal activity, from the alarming rise in fraud against elders to policies that bar older people from adding their wisdom to jury pools in many areas. Along the way, articles describe some "Crimestopper" programs in aging that would get the nod from Dick Tracy.
--Paul Kleyman, Editor
Aging Today