ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses crime and the elderly in a specific location, a small resort town and identifies the impact of victimization on the elderly individual. A more complete understanding of crime and the elderly must include other social contextual factors. The literature concerning crime and the elderly provides limited support for such an understanding, as it is largely limited to urban areas. While most studies have used structured interviews or questionnaires to address such issues, there has been little attention given to the social context of the respondents, especially to elderly residents of non-urban areas. The purpose of the questionnaire was to identify the factors related to concern about criminal victimization among the elderly in Focus Town. A social/contextual model, this multi-method study utilized both qualitative and quantitative research techniques, including interviews with significant informants; survey; and archival information.
