A new crime wave in Japan

By senior citizens...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/3213349/Japan-struggles-with-elderly-crime-wave.html

Japan struggles with elderly crime wave

Police in Japan are struggling to control a crime wave carried out by the most unlikely of criminal fraternities: the elderly.

[Me:] A portent of things to come in the US? In Japan, one of the top nations by measure of longevity, 20-25% of the country is over 60, and the US/Europe are on that path. NPR was discussing this too, and they said that one elderly lady stabbed a younger woman just because she was homeless and wanted the police to care for her (or at least put a roof over her head in jail). It reminds me of poor Palestinian youth deliberately committing minor crimes to get "street cred", and also to live more comfortably in Israeli jails for a while (hot meals, TV, safety). Though unlike Palestine, Japan is the #2 economy and a traditionally low crime, orderly country. It's really shocking that things have come to this, though Japan is a peculiar case study in social dynamics on many levels. The traditional family support network has broken down, and younger generations either don't care to help the old, or are too busy trying to survive in the world themselves. And it's amazing how unsympathetic, and even pejorative, the center-right Aso government is to the seniors' plight (plus, it's not like the leaders in Tokyo are spry young guys either). They prefer to build new prisons for them rather than improve their crumbling safety net. I don't know how much of Japan shares that attitude though. I guess to some Japanese, seniors are just temperamental and burdensome. Old people will always be burdens, but so are kids, wounded veterans, and the handicapped, and we don't cut them loose (usually). It's up to the society or family to decide how to treat them, and I am not sure if Japan has age discrimination laws like the US. Well, kids represent the future, so investing in them is more justified, but the old have apparently outlived their usefulness.

I am sure all of us have horror stories of our elderly relatives acting out and being a pain. Sometimes they can't help it (Alzheimer's, dementia, irritability over chronic pains etc.). Sometimes they do it to get attention, or maybe they are just crabby SOBs. I guess some older Japanese take it to another level (crime), partly because of economic desperation and partly due to their frustration over their irrelevance and neglect. Like terrorism, we have to analyze why some seniors would choose to resort to criminal acts in order to make a statement or strike out at society. That generation worked like hell to bring Japan out of the WWII ashes and into a premier industrial power, but for what? A piddling pension and social disdain/alienation? Not only are they not respected and appreciated (as they were taught to do... filial piety Confucian/Shinto values and such), they are cast aside like chaff. Apart from helping seniors with basic essentials as the costs of Western living continues to rise, I think many of the disgruntled elderly would appreciate some moral support too. The past is prologue, and much of what we now are is because of them, for better or worse. How we think of and treat our elderly is a reflection on how we feel about ourselves. Would it hurt so much to show them a little more inclusion and gratitude? It's one of those social problems where everyone is guilty, so no one is, and therefore nothing gets done. I am sure many seniors hate being old more than we may ever know, and maybe some would prefer to end their lives than feel useless and unwanted by their family/country. It's not their fault that they continue to live. It's up to us to decide what kind of life our societies will provide for them, or what kind of life we would want if we were in their shoes.

I know some of you have lived in or studied about Japan, so would love your input. The same story is unfolding in China, Russia, and parts of the West. At least for poorer, developing countries, their excuse is economic limitations precluding better senior care. But in the US, how are we faring?

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Article text:

While the majority of crimes committed by older Japanese involve petty theft, cases of murder, assault and violence are on the increase.

"There has been a huge change in the last 10 years," said Tomomi Fujiwara, author of the book "Bousou Rojin" ("The Elderly Out of Control").

"It can be a question of money for some of these people, but that is not the main reason we're seeing this problem now," he said.

Mr Fujiwara blamed the changing face of Japanese society for the spike in crime. "In the past, elderly people were revered and cared for in Japanese society, living in the same homes with their children and families. That has gone now and they don't recognise their own neighbourhood or the people living around them."

Cases of the elderly becoming involved in crime include a 79-year-old woman stabbing two young women with a fruit knife in Tokyo after leaving a shelter for homeless people; a terminally ill 85-year-old man strangling his wife because he did not want her to go on living after his own death and a man in his 70s robbing a store in Nagoya at knife-point.

Japan has traditionally enjoyed low levels of crime and government statistics show that overall figures are falling, except among the elderly. The number of people aged 65 or older convicted of a criminal offence stood at 13,739 in 1998; by last year that figure had risen to 48,597 cases. That number accounted for one in seven of all reported crimes and included 150 murder charges. The Japanese government is spending Y8.3 billlion (£39 million) on constructing three new prison wards that are specifically designed to cater to the rising number of elderly inmates. Many are repeat offenders who commit another minor crime shortly after their release simply to get back into a community where they are comfortable, warm, fed and have friends of their own age.

Mr Rujiwara also said many elderly people have abandoned politeness and understanding - values for which the Japanese are renown - and are now rude, demanding and threatening. "I've seen it happen myself," he said. "I watched this man shouting at a member of staff in a supermarket and then he went into the bank and did exactly the same thing again," he said. "I had never seen anything like it before."

As well as the dislocation from society and their families, Mr Fujiwara said the elderly were increasingly concerned about who will care for them when they become frail. Japan's pension system is disarray, with thousands of workers' records lost, causing fears among the elderly that they will not receive any financial assistance. "Society has already changed and now we have more economic problems, so I really don't see this situation getting any better in the near future," said Mr Fujiwara. "In fact, I'm sure it will get much worse."