Victimization of the Elderly in the Municipality of Ljubljana

Abstract

Police statistics and victimological studies show that persons over 65 years of age are less often victims of crime when compared to other age groups. They are, however, more vulnerable because of age-related specificities; they cope with the consequences of victimization with greater difficulties and it is estimated that a large proportion of abuse is not recognized at all. In the beginning, the paper reviews several notable studies of crimes against the elderly and continues by presenting the findings of the first study in Slovenia that focuses on the characteristics of some forms of elderly victimization. A randomly chosen sample of 800 women and 800 men over the age of 65 from the Municipality of Ljubljana was invited to take part in the survey by receiving a questionnaire by mail. The response rate was almost 40%. The results show that the prevalence of victimization of the elderly is 19.6%, and increases yearly by 15.6%. They are predominantly victims of property crime, and describe their feelings after the victimization as general discomfort, fear, powerlessness, anger and shock. The findings also show that more than half of the participants reported the offences to the police and that the large majority of the victims were satisfied with the police officers' work and attitude.