4 Summary of past research (1984 and 1991 White Paper on Crime)

(1) 1984 White Paper on Crime
  This White Paper defined elderly to be persons aged 60 or older and pointed out that during the 10 year period from 1974 to 1983 the rate of increase in the rate per population of cleared elderly (1.32) was higher than that of total number of cleared persons (1.08); by type of offense, the elderly rate was high for homicide, theft, and arson; and shoplifting and bicycle theft were high for modus operandi for theft cases.
  Examining each procedural stage revealed that the suspended prosecution rate was relatively high for elderly; the rate of increase in number of persons sentenced in the court of first instance was relatively high with elderly; the number of newly admitted elderly inmates increased every year with the elderly rate reaching 1.9% in 1983, and the elderly rate was especially high for those with multiple previous imprisonments; and the number of newly received elderly parolees had been on an increasing trend. With regard to elderly victims of crime, the number of elderly crime victims and elderly rate both leveled off while by type of offense they both had been on an increasing trend with robbery.
  The White Paper recommended that, although most of the cases were for minor theft, some were for serious crimes and the number of elderly offenders was increasing, with many being repeat offenders, and hence measures in rehabilitation and protecting elderly would both be important.

(2) 1991 White Paper on Crime
  This White Paper also defined elderly to be persons aged 60 or older and pointed out that for the quarter of a century of between 1966 and 1990 the elderly rate for adults cleared for non-traffic penal code offenses increased from 2.9% to 8.3%.
  In the prosecution stage the elderly rate of those aged 20 or older at the time of being cleared for penal code offenses, excluding negligence in the pursuit of social activities had been on an increasing trend, and was 3.1% in 1990.
  Among persons indicted elderly accounted for the highest proportion for theft followed by fraud, injury, and homicide, in that order. With theft and fraud the elderly rate was increasing for offenders sentenced for unsuspended imprisonment with or without work in the court of first instance. These were clear indications of progress in aging.
  It was pointed out that although the elderly rate had been controlled at a low level through the appropriate discretion of public prosecutors, the appropriate and suitable application of public prosecutors' discretion would become even more important in the future because of the progress in aging among offenders.
  With the correctional stage the trend with aging was remarkable in the number of sentenced inmates at the end of year with an elderly rate of 5.0% in 1990. This figure was much higher than in Sweden, the U.K., Germany, and France where the percent ratio of persons aged 60 or older to total population was higher than in Japan, thus revealing that aging in penal institutions was progressing faster in Japan than those countries.
  It was noted that clarifying the characteristics of first-time inmates, who previously had not been given as much attention as repeat offenders, would provide useful reference data for use in treatment while future studies on the type of offender would be desirable. In addition to elderly repeat offenders, those sentenced for long-terms while still young who became elderly during imprisonment, and those who had been living normal lives but committed crimes at an elderly age due to problems in life or troubled relationships with others, etc., revealed that they had various types of backgrounds. And hence it was recommended that further research on elderly offenders would need to be conducted in the future so that more effective treatment measures could be mapped out according to the individual characteristics.
  With rehabilitation it was pointed out that aging had commenced with both newly received parolees and offenders given suspension of execution of sentence with probationary supervision, and was progressing especially fast with parolees.
  With regard to elderly victims of crime, among cases reported for non-traffic penal code offenses in 1990, the percent ratio of victims aged 60 or older was the highest for arson, followed by fraud, embezzlement excluding embezzlement of lost property, breaking into residences, homicide, and robbery.
  Supporting elderly probationers/parolees with health or financial problems, etc. has become an issue in their treatment and strengthening smooth cooperation between related institutions in securing employment, medical support, and consideration with help in finding welfare services, etc. have been promoted at probation offices. An estimate was made that the number of elderly who would serve longer terms due to their inability to become self-sufficient would increase at halfway houses. Avoiding such longer term servings, however, could not be achieved by efforts being made at halfway houses alone and the need to conduct discussions, etc. on extending the applicable period of the Post-incarceration Rehabilitation Services Act was noted.