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Elderly homicide in Chicago: a research note
Author(s) -
Fazel Seena,
Bond Mieko,
Gulati Gautam,
O'Donnell Ian
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
behavioral sciences and the law
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.649
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1099-0798
pISSN - 0735-3936
DOI - 10.1002/bsl.779
Subject(s) - homicide , poison control , human factors and ergonomics , injury prevention , suicide prevention , occupational safety and health , medical emergency , gerontology , medicine , pathology
Abstract There is a body of knowledge about elderly crime victims, but we know little about the characteristics of elderly perpetrators, especially of homicide. The few studies that have been published are based on small samples and are somewhat dated. In an examination of homicides committed in Chicago over a 31‐year period, we compared cases involving perpetrators aged over 60 years ( n = 443) with those involving younger perpetrators ( n = 24,066). There were a number of significant differences. Elderly killers were more likely to be White and to commit suicide afterwards. Their victims were more likely to be spouses, females, and aged over 60 years. Inter‐racial homicide was more common for younger offenders. The low number of homicides involving the elderly is explained by reference to routine activity theory. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.