Homicide Studies

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Special Issue on Elderly Homicide: An Introduction

Marc Riedel
Homicide Studies 2013 17: 123 originally published online 12 March 2013
DOI: 10.1177/1088767913480863

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research-article2013
HSX17210.1177/1088767913480863Homicide StudiesRiedel

Article
Homicide Studies
17(2) 123­–133
Special Issue on Elderly © 2013 SAGE Publications
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DOI: 10.1177/1088767913480863
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Marc Riedel1

Keywords
elderly, subtypes, elderly definition, robbery homicide, caretakers, routine activities,
lifestyle theory

The topic of elderly homicide is important for two major reasons. First, nearly every
publication on elderly homicide indicates that we are closing in on a very large increase
in the elderly population. Second, while the number of elderly homicides is small, they
have a number of characteristics that differentiate them from other age groups of
victims.

The “Senior Tsunami”

While it is discussed in more detail in the articles in this issue, what is called the
“senior tsunami” is a very large increase in the elderly population because those born
between 1945 and 1965—the baby boomers—will have turned 65 in 2011 (Brookings
Institute, 2010; Frey, 2007).
What contributes to the increase even more is that the World War II generation—
born between 1936 and 1945—is currently part of the 65 and older group. According
to Frey (2007, p. 1) just as the World War II generation, “plowed its way through the
nation’s school systems, labor market, housing market, and stock market, it continu-
ally broke the mold, transforming both public and private institutions in its path,” we
can expect similar massive, but as yet unknown, changes as the “baby boomers” enter
and add to the above 65 group. Figure 1 shows the population percent increase for the
next two decades as the result of the baby boomers and WW II generation entering the
65 and above population according to Frey.

1Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA, USA

Corresponding Author:
Marc Riedel, Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Southeastern
Louisiana University, SLU 10686, Hammond, LA 70402, USA.
Email: mriedel@selu.edu

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124 Homicide Studies 17(2)

Figure 1. Growth in U.S. total and senior populations by decade, 1970-2030.

Source: Author’s analysis of U.S. decimal censuses and census Bureau Population Projections.

Figure 1 shows a 15% increase in the above 65 population from 2000 to 2010 and
an above 35% increase in the decade 2010 to 2020. The above 65 population finally
begins to decline in the decade 2020 to 2030.
What this will mean in terms of elderly homicide is unclear. There will almost cer-
tainly be more incidents of elderly homicide, but it is unknown whether this will also
mean an increase in rates and/or a change in the type of victimization (Krienert &
Walsh, 2009; Weaver, Martin, & Petee, 2004).

Characteristics of Elderly Homicides

Before reviewing the studies in this issue, it is useful to briefly describe the current
status of research on elderly homicide. As is generally known, the elderly have a low
rate of homicide victimization. According to Bureau of Justice Statistics (http://www.
bjs.gov/content/homicide/tables/vagetab.cfm), the homicide rate for victims 50 and
above was 2.6 per 100,000 in 2005. The victimization rate for those above 50 was
lower than for any other group except those under 14.
Roberts and Willits (2013) and other contributors to this issue have pointed to the
importance of lifestyle/exposure and routine activities in explaining elderly homicide.
This is certainly the case for elderly who live alone and thereby provide a target for
victimization. Before summarizing the articles for this special issue, I describe first the
homicide victimization of another group whose lifestyle and routine activities also
contributes to their victimization.

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Riedel 125

Nursing Homes, Caregivers, and Elderly Homicides

Nursing homes have been plagued for decades with reports of physical abuse, neglect,
and theft of personal property. These reports finally led to nursing home reforms con-
tained in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987. Despite this federal law,
there has never been a systematic study of the prevalence of abuse in nursing homes
(Hawes, 2003).
What makes the underreporting of homicides possible in nursing homes is the rela-
tionship between abuse and homicides. Abuse can and does occur and is concealed; on
occasion a homicide is concealed. For example, Corey, Weakley-Jones, Nichols, and
Theuer (1992) report that an 88-year-old nondiabetic White male was given a fatal
insulin injection by an attending nurse. Ten days after death, an anonymous call to the
coroner’s office led to an exhumation, autopsy, and a decision that the cause of death
was a homicide. The nurse confessed, was found incompetent to stand trial, and her
nursing license was revoked.
A complication is that autopsies are required by law only for certain causes of death
such as homicide and suicide (Gruszecki, Edwards, Powers, & Davis, 2004). “Because
of the serious, chronic illnesses suffered by these patients, attending physicians are
often willing to sign death certificates without personally investigating the circum-
stances surrounding the patient’s demise” (Corey et al. 1992, p. 222).
A statistical analysis conducted by Nemetz, Leibson, and Naessens (1997, p. 179)
of 139,063 deaths taken from the 1986 National Center for Health Statistics mortality
tapes for four states (Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington) provides a
statistical view of the problem.
The effect of death in a nursing home on the risk of autopsy varies as a function of
age. For example, for 65-year-old men, the odds of autopsy for deaths outside the nurs-
ing home are 4.5 times those for deaths inside a nursing home. By contrast, for 85-year-
old men, the odds of autopsy for deaths outside the nursing home are 10.4 times those
for deaths inside a nursing home.

Caregivers. As Karch and Nunn (2011) and Abrams, Leon, Tardiff, Marzuk, and
Sutherland (2007) note, there is relatively little research on caregivers. Much homicide
research characterizes victim–offender relationships in general terms such as spouse
or family member but does not discuss the role the perpetrator played in the victim’s
life.
The most extensive of the few studies of caregivers in relation to homicide of the
elderly was done by Karch and Nunn (2011) using data from the National Violent
Death Reporting System. Of the 68 cases where the victim was 18 years or older, 29
victims were 50 to 79 years (42.6%) and 33 victims were 80 years or older (48.5%).
Most of the victims were women (63.2%) and White (88.2%). In the age range of 50
to 79 about half were married while those age 80 or higher were most often widowed.
Comparisons were made for types of caregivers and all ages. Comparisons were also
made by type of homicide: by neglect (n = 17), by physical injury (n = 21), or homi-
cide followed by suicide of the offender (n = 30), but not for specific age groups.

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126 Homicide Studies 17(2)

For those 80 years and above, husbands and sons were the most common caregiver
offenders. For those in the 50 to 79 year group, husbands were the most frequent
(20.7%), followed by wives (17.2%). The majority of the caregiver homicides occurred
in a house or apartment. Firearms were used in about one third of the cases and “inten-
tional neglect” was listed as the weapon in 24% of the cases.
Among the intentional neglect cases were two that were motivated by financial
gain. The sons/caregivers in the following case needed a place to live and the mother’s
support.

An 84-year-old White woman died while under the care of her two sons. The sons placed a
bed in the basement, left her in urine soaked diapers and linens filthy with vomit, refused to
treat her bedsores, discontinued her medication to treat her “naturally,” and provided her
with cigarettes while connected to an oxygen machine. An unknown person reported them
to authorities and when the fire department arrived, the sons indicated they thought she had
had a stroke because she lost the use of her legs and had been deteriorating for 10 days. The
sons told police they kept her in the basement because they needed a place to live and
needed her financial support. They had installed video cameras in the basement, so they
could watch her from monitors upstairs and didn’t have to go down to the basement. (Karch
& Nunn, 2011, p.12)

Who You Calling Old?

As a way of introducing the articles for this issue, this title, borrowed from Lynn
Addington’s (2013) article in this issue, captures both the defensiveness and reluctant
acknowledgment of old age in our society. This is evident in the Pew Research Center
(2009, p. 7) report when the interviewers asked,

Are You Old? Certainly not! Public opinion in the aggregate may decree that the average
person becomes old at age 68, but you won’t get too far trying to convince people that age
that the threshold applies to them. Among respondents ages 65-74, just 21% say they feel
old. Even among those who are 75 and older, just 35% say they feel old.

In her innovative analysis of elderly homicide, Addington points out that the first
step is to define what is meant by elderly. Defining elderly can be done in terms of com-
mon health, physical, or cognitive abilities, which is the best practice from the perspec-
tive of medical practitioners. In addition to ages, Table 1 below gives examples of
physical and cognitive abilities. However, from a practical point of view, Addington is
correct in pointing out that an easy-to-use measure is needed for research purposes.
Given that the elderly are living longer and healthier lives, it seems unlikely that a
single number will suffice to delimit a heterogeneous population. Multiple categories
of age would seem to address the problem of a chronological age definition recogniz-
ing differences in an elderly population.
In their articles in this issue, Lynn Addington (2013) and Carolyn Rebecca Block
(2013) use a variation of the strategy suggested by the Census Bureau (1996). For the
Census Bureau, 65 and above defines what is meant by “elderly.” But, in addition, it

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Table 1. The Markers of Old Agea,b.

Percent saying that a person is old when he or she . . .

Turns 85 79%
Can’t live independently 76
Can’t drive a care 66
Turns 75 62
Frequently forgets familiar names 51
Finds his or her health is failing 47
Has trouble walking up stairs 45
Has bladder control problems 42
Is no longer sexually active 33
Turns 65 32
Retires from work 23
Has grandchildren 15
Has gray hair 13
aAsked of all 2,969 adults in the survey. bPew Research Center (2009).

also uses the subcategories of 65 to 74 years as “young old,” 75 to 84 years as “aged,”

and 85 years and above as the “oldest old.”
The use of multiple categories of the elderly opens up new research and policy pos-
sibilities. A major advantage is that the adoption of multiple categories by researchers
greatly facilitates communication and replication. Current research comparing the
elderly is limited by variation in how elderly is defined and unwittingly compares very
heterogeneous samples. By using subcategories, it is also possible to draw similarities
and differences across the subcategories. Also noteworthy is that variations in what is
defined as elderly are not limited to researchers. The national survey by the Pew Research
Center (2009) indicates that almost 3,000 respondents do not agree with the census cat-
egories, for example, but do indicate the importance of using subcategories of old.
Table 1 indicates that what constitutes old age has expanded significantly from the
previous marker of 65; only 32% indicated that persons age 65 are old. A clear major-
ity (79%) said that turning 85 was old and 62% said that turning 75 was old.
Table 1 also indicates that respondents are aware of markers used by gerontologists
and medical professionals. For example, “can’t live independently” or “can’t drive a
car” indicates a high degree of agreement on what would be considered the aged.
While we have noted that researchers have not settled on a classification of elderly,
a wide disparity also exists among the respondents of the Pew survey: younger respon-
dents see old age as beginning much younger than older respondents.

These generation gaps in perception also extend to the most basic question of all about old
age: When does it begin? Survey respondents ages 18 to 29 believe that the average person
becomes old at age 60. Middle-aged respondents put the threshold closer to 70, and
respondents ages 65 and above say that the average person does not become old until turning
74. (Pew Research Center, 2009 pp. 2-3)

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128 Homicide Studies 17(2)

Does It Make a Difference?

Addington used 2007 and 2008 data from the National Incident Reporting System to
study elderly homicide at different ages. She used the Census subclassifications men-
tioned earlier. Although the differences in Addington’s research were not always sta-
tistically significant, one of the major findings is that the greatest differences are seen
between the “young-old” (65-74 years) and the “oldest old” (85 years plus) groups.
Compared to the young-old group, in the oldest old group a higher percentage of
victims are female, killed by family members, and with personal contact such as
strangulation. A higher percentage of the young-old are killed with knives and in
argument-related events compared to the oldest old.
Comparing elderly to nonelderly homicides, Addington found similarities between
the youngest and oldest victims, including a high percentage of homicides by family
members in argument-related circumstances for both groups.
Addington makes the salient point that a multiple-category classification of elderly
is important to theoretical explanations. Several explanations of elderly homicide rely
on routine activity/lifestyle theory. Multiple-category definitions suggest that routine
activities and lifestyles vary substantially among the elderly and help explain differ-
ences in weapons and types of offenders. For example, the finding that the oldest old
are killed by personal contact while younger old are killed by firearms suggests a
“frailty” hypothesis that points to important variations in elderly lifestyle.

Victims and Offenders

Block’s (2013) research on elderly homicide draws on the Chicago Homicide Dataset
(CHD), which is not only the most detailed collection of homicide data for a major city
in the United States but is also the best known in the field. The CHD includes all homi-
cides known to the Chicago police from 1965 through 2000; the CHD from 1965
through 1995 is archived in the National Archives of Criminal Justice Data.
From what we have discussed, it is clear that researchers and the public are becom-
ing aware that there are differences among elderly age groups. In her study, Block
follows the Chicago Department of Aging on defining elderly as beginning at age 60
and further breaks elderly into 5-year intervals for analysis: 60 to 64, 65 to 69, 70 to
74, 75 to 79, 80 to 84, and 85 and older. Unlike most of the other articles in this special
issue, Block discusses characteristics of both victims and offenders.

Victims. Block explores variations in trends from 1965 through 2000. Rates for males
and females above the age of 60 show a rapid increase from 1965 to the mid-1970s,
then show a general decline to 2000. While the increase is particularly strong for
males, it is also seen for females. While the numbers are too small to calculate annual
rates, the decline from the mid-1970s seems to hold for all age groups and for both
genders.
A few of the findings in this richly detailed study are that elderly victims are more
likely to be non-Latino and less likely to Black or Latino, intimate partner homicides

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Riedel 129

occur less frequently for elderly than younger age groups, and robbery and burglary
increase with age.
The Chicago Data Set is very specific as to location of the homicide. The elderly
are more likely to be killed in their own homes and the percent increases as the victims
age. What is noteworthy is that elderly victims are more likely to be killed in the work-
place compared to younger victims. For males, the percent killed in the workplace is
highest in the age group 60to 64 while for women, the percent killed is highest at 60
to 64 years.

Offenders. Homicide offending is rare for the elderly compared to younger age groups.
Only 1.7% of 27,561 offenders were age 60 or older. Women offenders followed a
similar pattern. By the late 1990s, there is little difference between the number of older
men and women committing homicide.
Elderly offenders were more likely to commit suicide than younger adults and the
difference held when the victim was an intimate partner. For offenders who killed an
intimate partner, ages 70 to 79 were most likely to commit suicide.
The preceding briefly summarizes a small number of findings reported by Block.
As the author notes, the article was intended to fill substantial gaps in our knowledge
of elderly homicide victims and offenders and she has succeeded in this goal.

Felony Homicides
Roberts and Willits’ (2013) study finds that elderly violence is characterized by a dis-
proportionate number of felony homicides. Among the possible reasons are failing
health, social isolation, and inactivity. Because of the latter, lifestyle/exposure and
routine activities perspectives suggest a decrease in older adults’ frequency of conflict
homicide. By the same token, the decrease in the possibilities of interaction may also
reduce the amount of guardianship thereby increasing their attractiveness as targets.
While previous research has made extensive use of the lifestyle/exposure and rou-
tine activities theories, much of the research on elderly homicide has not included
measures of lifestyle/exposure or routine activities. In their article in this issue,
Roberts and Willits (2013) investigate the effects of a number of independent vari-
ables on felony homicides. The authors then apply the same model to argument-
related homicides.
Using Supplementary Homicide Report data, the authors calculate the number of
felony- and argument-related homicides for the populations above 65 for 195 cities
with a population of 100,000 or more from 2000 to 2005. They construct indicators of
impairment, inactivity, and social isolation for each city’s percentage of adults above
65 who were living alone, with a disability, and not working. They also include two
opportunity variables: areas with high daytime nonoccupancy and high robbery rates.
The authors hypothesized that overall robbery rates would be significantly related to
other measures of felony-related homicides but not argument-related homicides.
Using negative binomial regression, Roberts and Willits found a positive signifi-
cant relationship between older adults living alone and felony-related homicides,

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130 Homicide Studies 17(2)

while the relationship for argument-related homicides was not significant. They also
found that older adults with disabilities and robbery rates were significantly related to
both felony and argument-related homicides.
The Robert and Willits research shows that older persons with disabilities and liv-
ing alone may increase risks for felony-related homicides, but the additional difficul-
ties of caring for disabled persons by younger caregivers could lead to more violent
arguments.
It is also noteworthy that robbery rates were related to both felony- and argument-
related homicides. The authors suggest that robbery may be an indicator of general
violence in a city rather than something specific to elderly persons.

Elderly Homicide Offenders

The article by Feldmeyer and Steffensmeier (2013) is different from other articles in
this issue in that it focuses on elderly homicide offenders. The research fills an impor-
tant gap by evaluating patterns of elderly homicide over time and across race/ethnic
populations. It also examines shares of elderly homicide arrests relative to younger
groups across race/ethnicity and over time.
While understanding trends in homicide offending has present and future impor-
tance, another important outcome of studying elderly offenders is a better knowledge
of the growing number of elderly in our prison population. At this point, it is unclear
why there is an increase in elderly persons in prison. Finally, this article contributes to
our understanding of the intersection of elderly homicide patterns with race/ethnicity
as well as the proportionate shares of offending among age groups.
Data were drawn from the California Uniform Crime Reporting program for the
1985 to 2009 period. Data from this source are superior to that available from the
national Uniform Crime Reporting program because there are codes for both ethnicity
and race. California has clear and unambiguous classifications of Hispanic as well as
White, Black, Asian, and Native Americans. In addition, California is large and has a
very racially and ethnically diverse population.
While Feldmeyer and Steffensmeier’s research discusses trends in elderly homi-
cide by race/ethnic categories, the most interesting findings involve whether there are
race/ethnic differences in the elderly share of homicide offending relative to younger
groups and whether the elderly share of homicide has changed over the 1985 to 2009
period. As expected, the measure of involvement share—Proportionate Age
Involvement (PAI)—indicates that the elderly share of homicide is less than 5% for
the total population and below 4% for Blacks and Hispanics when compared to
younger populations.
In terms of temporal trends, the elderly share of homicide offenders increased from
3.8% to 4.8% from 1985 to 2009, but has remained generally stable. For the three larg-
est racial groups, Black and Hispanic groups have retained generally stable PAIs over
the time period. However, the White share of Proportionate Age Involvement has
increased from about 6% in the 1980s to more than 10% after the 1990s. The increase
occurred because of a decline in younger White homicide rates.

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Riedel 131

The final step in the research was to apply the Augmented Dickey-Fuller time
series technique to determine changes in elderly homicide trends. This rigorous test
indicated that the trends remained stable for elderly shares of homicide offending for
the total population and all five race/ethnic groups, even with a significance level of
p < .10.

Homicide-Suicide
Homicide-suicide is an event in which after committing a homicide the offender com-
mits suicide. As Bridges (2013) notes in his article in this issue, the state of knowledge
about homicide-suicides is lacking because there are no comprehensive national and
state statistics given the lack of a uniform reporting system for these events.
Undoubtedly, another major reason for data and research shortcomings is that homicide-
suicides fall between the typical boundaries of two disciplines, public health and crim-
inology, and have been studied independently (Liem, 2010; Riedel, 2008).
The article by Bridges examines homicide-suicides from 1968 to 1975 using
Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), which ceased reporting homicide-suicides
in 1975. The SHR underwent a major change in 1976 and most research using the SHR
dates from that period. To determine the reliability of data prior to 1976, Bridges com-
pares the number of homicide-suicides in the SHR to research done by others who
collected data from a separate source, such as police departments. While comparisons
are limited, the data do seem to agree with the alternative sources.
Homicide-suicide is a rare form of violence and for the elderly, it occurred most
often among Whites and most of the victims were women. The second most common
type of homicide-suicides involved a child killing parent. Almost all of the weapons
were either handguns or other firearms. Among the elderly, homicide-suicides of
spouses killing spouses were the predominant form of victim–offender relationship.
While no patterns over time were analyzed, the findings for homicide-suicides from
1968 to 1975 are similar to homicide-suicide patterns in more recent research.

Conclusions
Many of the authors in this issue point out that research on elderly violence and homi-
cide is lacking. It is clear that attention paid to abuse of the elderly is less than the
attention paid to child abuse. As Shields, Hunsaker, and Hunsaker (2004, p. 125)
noted, “Whereas the child abuse movement has prompted extensive investigation and
received publicity over the past three decades, attention to elder abuse and neglect has
been relatively deficient in medical and legal arenas.”
While research presented here helps to correct this imbalance, one of the major
problems is the lack of consensus on what is meant by “elderly.” While subcategories
have been suggested, more research will help to create agreement on the object of
study.
It is important to consider that gender, race/ethnicity, and age are the three staples
of most social science and criminological research and explanation. In the 20th

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132 Homicide Studies 17(2)

century we have seen social changes, still occurring, in race/ethnicity and gender that
have had a monumental affect on criminal law and the general quality of social life. To
see the differences, women and minorities of today need only consider the quality of
life of their parents and grandparents.
But what of age? Driven by demographics, what will be the major changes in the
21st century in the policies and treatment of the elderly? It seems clear now that the
notion of elderly will come to have a more complicated meaning than being 65 and
over. And what does that mean with respect to elderly homicide and violence? For
example, will elderly homicide victims of nursing home and caregiver abuse be con-
sidered a more serious crime than robbery homicide? All that can be said with assur-
ance at this time is that we do, indeed, live in interesting times.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship,
and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
article.

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Author Biography
Marc Riedel is Professor of Sociology at Southeastern Louisiana University and Emeritus
Professor at Southern Illinois University. Dr. Riedel’s most recent book (with Wayne Welch) is
Criminal Violence (3rd Edition) Oxford University Press, 2011.

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