Violence Against the Elderly

Abstract

Using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey for 1992 through 1994, this article presents an accounting of robbery and assault victimizations against older Americans and how they differ across age and gender groups. Differential patterns of risk were identified by contextual characteristics of the victimization including place of occurrence, weapon presence, injuries sustained, medical care required, number of offenders, and victim's relationship to offender. Generally, males had higher rates of victimization for both robbery and assault in all age groups. The exception to this was for robberies against the elderly; males and females older than 65 had equivalent rates of robbery victimizations. Regarding injury, it was found that older victims, particularly women, were more likely to sustain injuries as the result of a violent attack and more likely to require medical care for these injuries. Age and gender differentials were also found for location of occurrence and victim/offender relationship.