ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the findings of the study, as well as to acknowledge some limitations. It considers theoretical and methodological issues concerning crime and the elderly. The chapter presents the future research and provides a micro-view of crime and the elderly in a small town by presenting phenomenological accounts of key informants to be utilized appropriately. These accounts offered a contrast to the prevailing view of crime and the elderly in large metropolitan urban areas, a perspective that dominates the gerontological literature. The minister’s perspective of elderly fear of crime was formed by the experience of visitation to the homebound elderly as well as cleric service to a congregation that included a substantial number of active elderly members. The chapter provides a multi-method approach to assess crime and the elderly in a small town. Most studies of crime and the elderly have utilized quantitative data in the form of self-reports from the elderly, with no reference to social context.
