Deck 11: Crime and the Elderly

Question 1

How have changes in life expectancy affected the demographic composition of the United States population over the years?

Answer 1

No Answer

Question 2

What aging trends has the United States population experienced, and what future trends are anticipated?

Answer 2

No Answer

Question 3

Take Box 11.1 and list four characteristics of older Americans.

Answer 3

No Answer

Question 4

What role do older Americans generally play in political action?

Question 5

What is a "gerontologist"?

Question 6

Look at Table 11.1 and determine whether the elderly are over-represented or under-represented in victimization statistics.

Question 7

Look at Figure 11.2 of your textbook. Compared to other age groups, what are the actual odds of violent victimization for the elderly?

Question 8

Look at Figure 11.3 of your textbook. Compared to other age groups, what are the actual odds of property victimization for the elderly?

Question 9

What does the "magnitude issue" have to do with victimization of the elderly?

Question 10

Name the two components that make up fear of crime.

Question 11

Explain what "risk" means and how it pertains to elderly victimization.

Question 12

List four risk factors to which the elderly are exposed.

Question 13

Explain what "vulnerability" means and how it pertains to elderly victimization.

Question 14

Give three vulnerability factors and explain how they affect fear of crime among the elderly.

Question 15

What is "vicarious victimization"?

Question 16

Compare and contrast elderly abuse and elderly neglect.

Question 17

Explain the various forms of elderly abuse and elderly neglect contained in Box 11.2 of your textbook.

Question 18

What are some problems that hinder the collection of accurate data regarding elderly maltreatment?

Question 19

Referring to Figure 11.4 of your textbook, give some estimates of how much and what kinds of elderly maltreatment take place every year.

Question 20

How do people use intra-individual explanations to understand elder maltreatment victimization?

Question 21

Explain how the social interactionism perspective uses role reversal to account for mistreatment of the elderly.

Question 22

Apply the notion of social exchange to elder maltreatment.

Question 23

How does ageism impact elder maltreatment?

Question 24

What are some limitations associated with estimates of institutional abuse?

Question 25

Explain poly-victimization.

Question 26

What four factors contribute to institutional maltreatment?

Question 27

Familiarize yourself with the various warning signs of elder abuse presented in Box 11.3 of your textbook.

Question 28

What kind of legislative responses has institutional maltreatment triggered?

Question 29

Use Box 11.6 of your textbook and explain three rights of nursing home residents.

Question 30

What are some of the key provisions of the "Elder Justice Act" presented in Box 11.5 of your textbook?

Question 31

Outline three shortcomings that exist with mandatory reporting laws pertaining to elder maltreatment.

Question 32

Explain the key features of an integrated model to combat the financial exploitation of elderly adults as presented in Figure 11.6 of your textbook.

Question 33

What is the role of an adult protective services (APS) agency?

Question 34

List three gaps in our knowledge and understanding of elder abuse and neglect upon which future research should focus.

Question 35

Which of the following best describes what has happened to the average life expectancy of Americans in recent years?

A) remained constant
B) continued to rise
C) fell dramatically
D) slowed
E) declined and then accelerated

Question 36

What has happened in recent years to the proportion of the American population that is elderly?

A) remained constant
B) continued to rise
C) fallen dramatically
D) slowed
E) declined and then accelerated

Question 37

Which of the following best describes the odds of criminal victimization for the elderly?

A) about the same as other age groups
B) slightly higher than other age groups
C) lower than other age groups
D) markedly higher than other age groups
E) no one knows for sure

Question 38

Extremely low levels of representation in criminal victimization can give rise to which of the following?

A) magnitude issue
B) minimum issue
C) parity issue
D) equitable issue
E) both "c" and "d" above are correct

Question 39

What is meant by the fear-crime paradox?

A) the objective and the subjective odds of victimization are balanced
B) the objective odds of victimization are much higher than the subjective odds
C) the objective odds of victimization are much lower than the subjective odds
D) there is no difference between the objective and the subjective odds of victimization
E) the authorities are unable to provide sufficient information to address the issue

Question 40

According to your textbook, which of the following is a vulnerability factor?

A) living alone
B) residential location
C) fear of crime
D) social support
E) all of the above are vulnerability factors

Question 41

A heightened fear of crime stemming from exposure to media accounts about the growing crime problem is an example of which of the following?

A) transference
B) counter-transference
C) catharsis
D) double victimization
E) vicarious victimization

Question 42

Which of the following describes the withholding of basic food, clothing, and shelter from an aged victim by a caretaker?

A) abuse
B) neglect
C) aggravated elderly abuse
D) persistent nonsupport
E) behavioral carelessness

Question 43

"It could happen to me" is a thought commonly associated with vicarious victimization.

Question 44

Which of the following is NOT a theoretical explanation for why elder abuse and neglect takes place?

A) situational aspects
B) role reversal
C) subculture of violence
D) social exchange
E) ageism

Question 45

Ageism refers to which of the following?

A) growing old and disabled
B) the study of gerontology
C) youth-elderly incompatibilities
D) stereotyping older individuals
E) the extremely aged

Question 46

According to your textbook, approximately how many seniors reside in nursing homes and other similar institutional settings?

A) 600,000
B) 1.2 million
C) 1.8 million
D) 2.3 million
E) 3.7 million

Question 47

Which of the following is NOT a cause of institutional maltreatment?

A) the nursing home environment
B) staff characteristics
C) victim-precipitated events
D) victim characteristics
E) exogenous factors such as the relatively small number of nursing homes and available beds

Question 48

According to your textbook, which of the following is NOT a major reason why elderly victims do not report their neglectful or abusive episodes to the police?

A) a phone is not readily available
B) perpetrators are often family members
C) the victim depends upon the abuser for daily care and support
D) the victim may feel a sense of shame for allowing the situation to occur
E) the victim may not know that the maltreatment has taken place

Question 49

Which of the following items describes a problem associated with mandatory reporting of elder maltreatment cases?

A) the doctor-patient relationship is violated and the doctor may be sued
B) it places the blame on the offender
C) it treats the elderly as adults (as they should be treated)
D) it allows intervention into unknown cases of abuse
E) it reinforces ageism by focusing on the victim rather than the offender

Question 50

Which of the following privileged communications may be rescinded in cases of elder maltreatment?

A) doctor-patient
B) husband-wife
C) lawyer-client
D) all of the above
E) only "a" and "b" above are correct

Question 51

According to your textbook, which of the following is NOT a reason why elder victimization is becoming better known?

A) violence against the elderly receives media exposure
B) the power of the "silver-haired" lobby
C) the growing population of the elderly
D) mandatory reporting regulations
E) offender apprehension

Question 52

Life expectancy has significantly increased in the last century.

Question 53

Due to the fact that they are nearing the end of their lives, the elderly population is steadily decreasing.

Question 54

Silver-Haired Legislatures occur when the average age of Congress is at or above 60.

Question 55

People who study the aging process are known as ageists.

Question 56

The elderly are underrepresented in victimization statistics.

Question 57

In general, the elderly fear crime at higher rates than other age groups.

Question 58

A significant portion of the elderly population live in or near poverty.

Question 59

Living alone decreases risk by providing more control over one's surroundings.

Question 60

"It could happen to me" is a thought commonly associated with vicarious victimization.

Question 61

Approximately 20 million elders have been victims of some form of elder maltreatment.

Question 62

The most common type of elder maltreatment is physical abuse.

Question 63

Elder abusers tend to be economically dependent on their victims.

Question 64

The use of mistreatment to rectify an imbalanced relationship is an explanation based in social exchange theory.

Question 65

The influence of the larger community on institutional operations is an example of a nursing home environmental factor.