Chapter 12 Elder Abuse Victims Case Example Mickey Rooney Testifies “I didn’t want to tell anybody. I couldn’t muster the courage and you have to have courage. . . . I needed help and I knew I needed it. Even when I tried to speak up, I was told to shut up and be quiet” © Jim Young/Thomson Reuters. WHO Definition • “Elder abuse is a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person. It can be of various forms: physical, psychological/emotional, sexual, financial, or simply reflect intentional or unintentional neglect.” Scope of the Problem • The WHO estimates that the rate of elder abuse across Canada, the Netherlands, the United States, Finland, and Great Britain is between 4% and 6% • A recently released U.S. nationally representative sample found that 5.1% of adults over the age of 60 reported emotional mistreatment, 5.2% reported financial abuse, 1.6% reported physical mistreatment, and 0.6% reported sexual mistreatment in the past year Elder Abuse Legislation • 1987: The federal Older Americans Act was amended – Provides definitions of elder abuse and direct the use of federal funds • 2010: The Elder Justice Act – Reports on activities, accomplishments, and challenges – Makes recommendations to congressional committees – Provides states with resources to prevent elder abuse, increase prosecution of those who mistreat the elderly, and provide victim assistance • All U.S. states have enacted legislation authorizing the use of adult protective services (APS) in cases of elder abuse Types of Elder Abuse • Physical abuse • Neglect • Sexual abuse • Psychological abuse • Financial abuse Categories of Abusive Situations • Spousal violence as elder abuse • Abuse by adult children and relatives • Institutionally based abuse • Societal neglect • Sexual assault Spousal Violence as Elder Abuse • 58% of perpetrators of elder sexual abuse were intimate partners • Older women were twice as likely as older men to be killed by their spouses • Many became wives and mothers in the pre- feminist era • Many older women have never lived alone • Many have never learned independent skills at managing finances, negotiating contracts (such as leases), or interacting with lawyers Abuse by Adult Children • Role reversal if living with adult children, the parent becomes the dependent • Lack of autonomy of elderly person can make it very difficult to end the abuse • Type 1: Adult child is dependent on victim for financial assistance, housing, and other supports • Type 2: Result of caregiver stress caused by the demands of caring for an individual who may suffer from dementia or other illnesses Institutional Abuse • Older adults who are abused while they are residents of long-term-care facil ...

1. Chapter 12
Elder Abuse
Victims
Case Example
Mickey Rooney Testifies
“I didn’t want to tell anybody.
I couldn’t muster the
courage and you have to
have courage. . . . I needed
help and I knew I needed it.
Even when I tried to speak
up, I was told to shut up and
be quiet”
© Jim Young/Thomson Reuters.
WHO Definition

2. • “Elder abuse is a single or repeated act, or
lack of appropriate action, occurring within
any relationship where there is an
expectation of trust, which causes harm or
distress to an older person. It can be of
various forms: physical,
psychological/emotional, sexual, financial,
or simply reflect intentional or unintentional
neglect.”
Scope of the Problem
• The WHO estimates that the rate of elder abuse
across Canada, the Netherlands, the United
States, Finland, and Great Britain is between 4%
and 6%
• A recently released U.S. nationally
representative sample found that 5.1% of adults
over the age of 60 reported emotional

3. mistreatment, 5.2% reported financial abuse,
1.6% reported physical mistreatment, and 0.6%
reported sexual mistreatment in the past year
Elder Abuse Legislation
• 1987: The federal Older Americans Act was
amended
– Provides definitions of elder abuse and direct the use of
federal funds
• 2010: The Elder Justice Act
– Reports on activities, accomplishments, and challenges
– Makes recommendations to congressional committees
– Provides states with resources to prevent elder abuse,
increase prosecution of those who mistreat the elderly, and
provide victim assistance
• All U.S. states have enacted legislation authorizing
the use of adult protective services (APS) in cases
of elder abuse
Types of Elder Abuse
• Physical abuse

4. • Neglect
• Sexual abuse
• Psychological abuse
• Financial abuse
Categories of Abusive Situations
• Spousal violence as elder abuse
• Abuse by adult children and relatives
• Institutionally based abuse
• Societal neglect
• Sexual assault
Spousal Violence as Elder Abuse
• 58% of perpetrators of elder sexual abuse were
intimate partners
• Older women were twice as likely as older men
to be killed by their spouses
• Many became wives and mothers in the pre-

5. feminist era
• Many older women have never lived alone
• Many have never learned independent skills at
managing finances, negotiating contracts (such
as leases), or interacting with lawyers
Abuse by Adult Children
• Role reversal if living with adult children, the
parent becomes the dependent
• Lack of autonomy of elderly person can make it
very difficult to end the abuse
• Type 1: Adult child is dependent on victim for
financial assistance, housing, and other
supports
• Type 2: Result of caregiver stress caused by the
demands of caring for an individual who may
suffer from dementia or other illnesses

6. Institutional Abuse
• Older adults who are abused while they are
residents of long-term-care facilities
• Most vulnerable elderly individuals
• 36% of nurses and nurse’s aides reported
having seen at least one incident of physical
abuse perpetrated by a staff member
• 10% of staff members admitted to having
committed physical abuse, and 40% admitted to
psychological abuse
Societal Neglect
• Neglectful practices
• Inadequate resources
• Poor public policies
Sexual Assault
• Typologies of sexual offenders against the

7. elderly
– Opportunistic rapists
– Pervasive anger rapists
– Sexual-type rapists
• Sexual sadistic rapists
• Sexual nonsadistic rapists
– Vindictive-type rapists
Factors Associated with Risk of
Abuse
Interventions
• Prevention programs
– Education
• Adult protection programs
– Mandatory reporting, assessment, intervention
• Domestic violence programs
– Legal advocacy, short-term emergency housing,
long-term-care planning and possible admission,
and law enforcement training

8. Chapter 13
Homicide:
Victims, Their
Families, and
the Community
Case Example
Canadian Air Force Officer Pleads Guilty to Murder
• Brutal assault and murder
of two women
• Kept meticulous records
and videotapes of his 2-
year rampage
• Began with home break-
ins to steal girls’ and
women’s underwear for
his sexual arousal and

9. culminated in the murders
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Scope of the Problem
• Earliest classification system in United States is
UCR
• Program was the first system to classify
homicide in the United States
• Steadily decreased in the 1990s, began
increasing again in the 2000s
– 13,594 persons murdered in 2014 and 15,192 in
2015, representing an 11.8% increase across those 2

12. years (FBI, 2017)
• Murder rate considerably lower in Canada than
in United States
Number of Murders by Weapon
Used
Data from: FBI Uniform Crime Report – Crime in the United
States. 1977, 1981, 1987, 1989, 2003, 2007. Washington, DC:
Department of Justice.
Legal Responses to Murder
• All legal codes classify murder as a major
crime
– Where the element of intent exists and there
are no extenuating circumstances, the penalty
may be death or life imprisonment
• Penalties for homicide: Serve longer prison
terms; between 1986 and 2003 length of
stay increased 116%

13. Legal Responses to Murder
• Recidivism: 67% rearrested; 50%
reincarcerated
– Imperative to examine recidivism patterns to
assess to what extent predictors for recidivism
are similar to those for other violent offenders
• Civil litigation, two areas of law can be
used:
– Denial of equal protection
– Failure to act
Classification of Homicides
• Single homicide (e.g., Ennis Cosby)
• Double homicide (e.g., Half & Susanne
Zantop)
• Triple homicide (e.g., Newark students)
• Mass murder: classic and family
• Spree murder (e.g., Howard Unruh)

14. • Serial murder (two or more events)
Homicide Victimization Theories
• Social interactionism
– Lifestyle/routine activities theories
– Victim risk
• Cultural theories
– Social learning theories: Modeling behavior
– Violent media: Appears to increase
aggression in youth
Demographic Correlates and
Homicide Offending
• Race, ethnic origin, gender, social class,
age, and victim/offender relationship
• Shows consistent pattern of variation in
terms of gender, age, victim/offender
relationship

15. • Primarily a male crime
• Race combined with social class has
strong correlation to homicide
Homicide Typologies
• Organized and disorganized offenders: A
typology of crime scene dynamics
– Organized offenders: Planning of the crime,
good verbal skills, high degree of intelligence
– Disorganized offenders: Actions devoid of
normal logic, have poor self-image,
underachievers
Homicide Typologies
• Underclass homicide typology
– Hundreds of thousands of homicide offenders
who do not make headlines, commit the
crime, serve the time, etc.
• Toward a new homicide typology

16. – Homicide precipitated by argument et al.
– Homicide during the commission of a felony
– Domestic violence–related homicide
– Homicide charge following an accident
Issues for Covictims
• Forensic issues
– Death notification
– Funeral activities
– Police investigation
– Medical examiner’s office
– Media
Response of Covictims
– Return to work or school
– Grief
– Guilt and blame
– Stigma

17. – Fears and phobias
– Mental health effects
Chapter 14
Hate Crimes
Case Example
Hate Crime
• 19- and 20-year-old
sentenced to 9 years for
the beating death of Luis
Ramirez
• Threatening, racial slurs
earlier
• Kicked in head until he
died
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Definitions
• Hate crime: Criminal conduct motivated in
whole or in part by a preformed negative
opinion or attitude toward a group based
on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual
orientation, or disability
• Hate speech: Words that are used as
weapons to ambush, terrorize, wound,
humiliate, and degrade
Victims of Hate Crime—United States
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Hate Crime Legislation in the
United States
• 1920s–1940s: Attempts made to enact statutes
to deter lynching of African Americans
• 1950s: Seven U.S. states adopted group libel

22. statutes that addressed hate speech
• 1980s–1990s: Most U.S. states moved to
criminalize actions motivated by hate
• Federal legislation:
1990: Hate Crime Statistics Act
1994: Hate Crime Sentencing Act
2000: Hate Crimes Prevention Act
Hate Crime Legislation in Canada
• Three provisions
– Advocating genocide
– Public incitement of hatred through
communication of statements in public
– Hate propaganda material intended for
distribution can be seized
Typology of Hate Crimes
• Race
• Religion
• Disability

23. • Gender
• Sexual Orientation
• Political
Typology of Offender Motivation
Suicide Bombing as Hate Crime
• Targeted use of self-destructing human beings
against civilian populations to effect political
change
• Primary targets are not those killed in the attack
but those who witness it
• Random attacks based on hatred toward a
particular group of people
• Outcomes in terms of fear are highly successful
Impact of Hate Crimes on Victims
• Try to be less visible and relocate to attempt to

24. reduce the possibility of further attacks
• Higher intrusive thoughts, anxiety, and anger
than victims whose assaults were not hate
based
• The severity of the assaults is significantly
higher than that of other assaults, and people
are more likely to require hospitalization
• Not only individuals but also communities
Chapter
17
Other Forms of
Victimization
Case Example
Doctor’s Testimony Lead to Wrongful Conviction
• Coroner’s review of 45
cases of testimony on

25. “shaken baby syndrome”
leading to conviction
• Review determined that
Smith made questionable
conclusions of foul play in
20 cases, 13 of which
resulted in criminal
convictions
© Ben Stansall/ AFP/ Getty Images.
Robbery and Theft
• Robbery
– Taking or attempting to take anything of value
from the care, custody, or control of a person
or persons by force, or threat of force or
violence and/or by putting the victim in fear
• Larceny (or theft)
– Taking of a person’s property without the
permission of the property owner or
possessor of that property, but does not
involve threat

26. Burglary
• The uninvited and illegal entry into a person’s
property, cargo container, or any vehicle or
vessel
• Four types
– Completed burglary
– Forcible entry
– Unlawful entry without force
– Attempted forcible entry
• Frequently a secondary crime or by-product of
the intention to commit another crime (typically
more serious)
Home Invasion
• Forced entry into a home for the purposes
of robbery, rape, or other criminal activity
– Frequently involve highly violent activities
• Florida 1993: Home invasion robbery a

27. first-degree felony even when no weapon
is used
• Connecticut 2008: Home invasion robbery
to a first-degree offense
Carjacking
• 1992: Federal statute came into effect that
criminalized carjacking in the United States
• 40% increase per year between 1987 and
1992—and in 2003 it was estimated to average
49,000 per year
• Louisiana 1998: “Shoot the Carjacker” law,
extended the defense of habitation law, makes
justifiable a homicide
Workplace Violence
• Violence can occur in any workplace and
among any type of worker

28. – Risk for fatal violence is greater for workers in
sales, protective services, and transportation
– Risk for nonfatal violence resulting in days
away from work is greatest for healthcare and
social assistance workers
• Total of 4,836 fatal work injuries in 2015
(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Risk Management in the Workplace
• Policies regarding violence, threats, misconduct, weapons,
intimate partner violence, and bomb threats
• A system for reporting, investigating, assessing, and
managing all threats, misconduct, and inappropriate behavior
• Access controls
• A security plan and procedures
• Preemployment screening procedures
• A drug-free workplace program
• An employee assistance program
• Critical incident response procedures

29. • Training of all employees in their roles in each of the above
Victims of Natural Disasters
• Each disaster is unique even though
research on disasters shows there are
common effects across disaster types
• Several factors may determine a given
disaster’s effects on survivors, such as:
– Continuing aftershocks following an earthquake
– Life threat
– Loss of employment or income
– Cultural beliefs
Victims of Terrorism
• Affects large percentage of population
• People who lived or worked near Ground Zero,
witnessed the attack, knew a victim, or knew a
recovery worker revealed symptoms including:

30. – Somatic responses (stomach pain, back pain,
headaches, dizziness, cardiac)
– Depressive symptoms
– Anxiety symptoms (concentration difficulties and
arousal)
Corporate Victimization
• White-collar crime defined as “crime committed
by a person of respectability and high social
status in the course of their occupation”
– 2009: Bernie Madoff was sentenced to a jail term of
150 years
• Organizations are also the victims of corporate
crime
– 2017: Martin Shkreli found guilty on multiple criminal
securities fraud charges
Victims of Corporate Crime

31. Wrongful Convictions
Racial Profiling and
Disproportionate Penalties
• Racial profiling
– Any action undertaken for reasons of safety, security,
or public protection that relies on stereotypes about
race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, or place of
origin (or a combination of these) rather than on
reasonable suspicion to single out an individual for
greater scrutiny or different treatment
• Overrepresentation in criminal justice system
• Fuels distrust and alienation