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Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Introduction -- What Is in This Volume -- Naming the Offenders -- Sentencing: Blind Justice? -- Institutions: Custody, Care or Therapy? -- Future Research Agenda -- REFERENCES -- PART I: NAMING THE OFFENDERS -- Arrests for Major Crimes: Trends and Patterns for Elderly Offenders -- Introduction -- Method of Study -- Findings of the Study -- Summary and Conclusions -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- A Comparison of Retiree Criminal Characteristics with Habitual and Nonhabitual Older Offenders from an Urban Population -- Introduction -- The Disengagement Theory -- Data for the Study -- Findings: Nonhabitual Offenders -- Findings: Habitual Offenders -- Findings: Retirees -- Discussion -- Conclusion -- REFERENCES -- Aging and Aged in Organized Crime -- I. Introduction -- II. Definitions -- Old Age and Aging -- Organized Crime -- III. The Normative System -- IV. The Aged -- V. Intergenerational Problems -- VI. Standard of Life -- VII. Fears of the Aged -- VIII. Excuses and Justification -- IX. The Government and the Aged in Organized Crime -- X. Theoretical Considerations -- REFERENCES -- PART II: SENTENCING: BLIND JUSTICE? -- Defendant's Advanced Age as a Prepotent Status in Criminal Case Disposition and Sanction -- Introduction and Review of the Literature -- Objectives -- Method -- Limitations -- Findings -- In Conclusion -- REFERENCES -- The Elderly Offender and Sentencing Leniency -- Introduction -- Methodology -- Conclusions and Discussion -- NOTE -- REFERENCES -- Legal and Social Alternatives in Treating Older Child Sexual Offenders -- Introduction -- The Principle of Diminished Responsibility -- Rehabilitation versus Revenge -- Treament Alternatives -- Prisons -- Psychiatry -- Vocational Rehabilitation -- Institutionalization -- Mental Health -- Family Placement -- Conclusion -- REFERENCES

The Prison Service's decision to create a dedicated 'pensioners' wing' at HMP Kingston has focused attention on the growing population of ageing prisoners. Helen Codd, Lecturer in Law at the University of Central Lancashire, examines the largely neglected issue of older people at all stages of the criminal justice system and offers proposals for anti-discriminatory practice.

An important contribution to the criminological, gerontological, feminist and elder abuse fields, Not Your Usual Suspectexpands existing research to consider the behaviour and drivers of older offenders, addressing the increasingly important issue of how the needs of this group can be addressed by policy and practice.

As the average life expectancy continues to rise, the long-held assumption that age is a protective factor against criminal offending and victimisation is being challenged. Recognising that people who commit offences later in life are an overlooked group in criminology, Not Your Usual Suspect is the first collection to assemble research on different forms of violence and abuse perpetrated by individuals predominantly over 60. Examining intersections of gender, crime and age, this collection highlights how the increase in older people entering the criminal justice system has emphasised the unpreparedness of policies and practices for dealing with this cohort. Moving beyond existing research and policy which has focused primarily on those who are sentenced in later life for crimes they committed as younger adults - so called historic crimes - the chapters pay crucial attention to those who commit offences as long-term, repeat or first-time offenders in later life. Offering an important contribution for researchers across the criminological, gerontological, feminist and elder abuse fields, Not Your Usual Suspect expands existing research to consider the behaviour and drivers of older offenders, addressing the increasingly important issue of how the needs of this group can be addressed by policy and practice.

Actuarial risk assessment scales and their associated recidivism estimates are generally developed on samples of offenders whose average age is well below 50 years. Criminal behavior of all types declines with age; consequently, actuarial scales tend to overestimate recidivism for older offenders. The current study aimed to develop a revised scoring system for two risk assessment tools (Static-99 and Static-2002) that would more accurately describe older offenders' risk of recidivism. Using data from 8,390 sex offenders derived from 24 separate samples, age was found to add incremental predictive validity to both Static-99 and Static-2002. After creating new age weights, the resulting instruments (Static-99R and Static-2002R) had only slightly higher relative predictive accuracy. The absolute recidivism estimates, however, provided a substantially better fit for older offenders than the recidivism estimates from the original scales. We encourage evaluators to adopt the revised scales with the new age weights.

Covers -- Guest editorial -- The validity of two diagnostic systems for personality disorder in people with intellectual disabilities: a short report -- Social-moral awareness and theory of mind in adult offenders who have intellectual disabilities -- Teaching early reading skills to adult offenders with intellectual disability using computer-delivered instruction -- Sixteen years of the Brooklands Thinking Skills Offender Programme

Sexual offenders constitute a substantial proportion of the older male prison population. Recent research findings, with potential consequences for risk management, indicate that recidivism risk might be lower in older sexual offenders. We followed up all adult male sexual offenders released from prison in Sweden during 1993-1997 (N =1,303) for criminal reconviction for an average of 8.9 years. We studied rates of repeat offending (sexual and any violent) by four age bands (<25, 25-39, 40-54, and 55 +years), and examined whether risk factors for recidivism remained stable across age groups. Results showed that recidivism rates decreased significantly in older age bands. In addition, the effect of certain risk factors varied by age band. These findings on recidivism rates in older sexual offenders concur with studies from the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada and may suggest some generalizability in Western settings. Further research is needed to address underlying mechanisms.