This project is one of the only existing large-scale representative surveys of older adults designed to explore factors associated with fraud and financial exploitation. They survey will be administered to older adults across the state of Florida and to older adults in Contra Costa County, California.
The study has three primary objectives:
- Establish prevalence rates of fraud and financial exploitation. This stage of the research project will focus on the measurement of older adults’ experiences with fraud and financial exploitation. Importantly, for each, the survey will measure both completed and attempted or targeted victimization experiences.
- Explore community-level factors associated with victimization risk. This research will be among the first to quantitatively explore whether and how community-level factors may influence older adult’s risk of, or protection from, fraud and financial exploitation. The research team will explore the relationship between community-level factors, such as the number of older adults living in the area, the type of community, median household income, disorder (e.g., poverty, residential mobility/turnover), and the crime rate on victimization. This will facilitate the identification of community-level factors that may increase or decrease the likelihood of financial victimization among older adults.
- Develop a typology of victimization or victim profiles. After establishing prevalence rates and assessing the role communities, the research team will develop a detailed typology of financial victimization. These victim profiles will include information about the incident, individual-level risk factors, community-level risk factors, and reporting behavior.
The project’s findings will provide meaningful contributions to research and policy aimed at reducing and preventing fraud and financial exploitation of older adults. The findings will be shared widely with older adults and their support networks, and policymakers and practitioners.
Project Partners
The University of California Berkeley College of Law’s Criminal Law & Justice Center
Contacts
Principal Investigator: Julie Brancale
Co-Principal Investigators: Thomas Blomberg, George Pesta, and Young-An Kim
Graduate Research Assistant: Haley Nelson