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Journal of Applied Gerontology
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The Perception of the Elderly Criminal When Compared to Adult and Juvenile Offenders

Mitchell Silverman

Linda G. Smith

Carnot Nelson

Richard Dembo

The purpose of the present study was twofold: First, to determine how individuals would perceive the elderly criminal when compared to the adult and juvenile criminal; and second, to determine if individuals would assign different punishments for the elderly criminal when compared to the adult and juvenile criminal .

The subjects were 102 respondents divided into three groups of 34 respondents each (elderly, college students, and law enforcement officers). These groups were further divided into equal subgroups by sex. Respondents were asked to fill out a questionnaire consisting of a brief scenario describing a crime being committed followed by a list of attributes to be assigned for each of six conditions in which the age of the offender (elderly, adult, and juvenile) and the sex of the offender varied.

Findings showed that the elderly criminal was perceived in a significantly more positive manner than the adult or juvenile criminal and that the elderly criminal received a significantly more lenient sentence than the adult criminal. There were no differences between the adult and juvenile with respect to sentencing. The results were interpreted in terms of their practical implications for the criminal justice system.

Journal of Applied Gerontology, Vol. 3, No. 1, 97-104 (1984)
DOI: 10.1177/073346488400300110
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[Abstract] [PDF]