A Study on Causes of Elderly CRIMES in KOREA and Countermeasures

The problem of the elderly is an issue that many people do not recognize among social problems caused by aging. In Korea, the damage caused by elderly crimes has increased every year since 1995. These elderly crimes are occurring commonly not only in Korea but also in other countries worldwide. More seriously, elderly crimes are increasing steadily at the same time as violent crimes such as murder, larceny, arson, assault, bodily harm, etc. Most of the elderly crimes were motivated primarily for survival and livelihood previously, but in recent years, the crimes committed by the elderly have increasingly fallen into the category of the major 5 crimes. The incidence and proportion of elderly crimes have been increasing steadily over time. In addition, some incidents of crimes perpetrated by the elderly population are indescribably horrendous, compared to those of the past, and therefore, thorough countermeasures would need to be mapped out. There has been a growing importance of practical research, such as the research into characteristics of el-derly crime, factors inducing elderly crimes, and polices for prevention of elderly crime, etc., from the stand-point of criminology in respect of crimes committed by the elderly population in Korea. Thus, it would be im-portant to analyze the characteristics of elderly crimes committed recently in Korea based on various statistical data and literature related to elderly crimes, and based on that, to identify the causes of skyrocketing elderly crimes and establish countermeasures. With the increase in the relative ratio of elderly crimes and elderly population, it is expected that elderly crimes would be highlighted as a serious social problem when the baby boomers join the ranks of elderly population in the period ahead. Therefore, this study was intended to investi-gate current status and causes of the elderly crimes in Korea, which actually occurred or were likely to occur in Korea in the period ahead and to seek countermeasures. Thus, the study can consider the following policy proposals for achieving a society without elderly crimes. First, it would be necessary to promote a shift in the awareness of the public towards elderly crimes. Second, it is necessary to promote and strengthen role-sharing among social welfare organizations. Third, it is necessary to create a pool of professional manpower for prevention of elderly crimes. Efficient countermeasures would need to be taken against elderly crimes by securing professionals specialized in prevention of elderly crimes in order to accommodate the aging and environmental changes. Fourth, elderly crime control system would need to be established by criminal justice organizations. Elderly crimes are accidents that occur in communities and require cooperation with concerned local authorities and organizations.