Thesis is a criminological study of willful murders and grave bodily injuries committed by the elderly in Ukraine. The scientific work provided a criminological characteristic of these crimes, studied of the personality of an aged offender who committed willful murders and intentional grave bodily injuries, the personality of the victim, identified the determinants that predetermine these crimes, and proposed measures to prevent them.
The criminological characteristics of these crimes include quantitative and qualitative indicators (level, structure, dynamics, "price", latency), as well as information about the personality of the offender and the victim. The criminological characteristic of an aged offender who committed willful murders and grave bodily injuries was carried out on the basis of an analysis of their socio-demographic, criminal, legal, and psychological characteristics. Main determinants of these crimes include poverty and marginalization among the elderly, disparities in the size of pension payments, which leads to increased dissatisfaction and anger among the latter, problems in the field of employment of the elderly, excessive leisure time, destruction of respectful attitude towards the elderly people, the problem of age discrimination, ageism, etc. The immediate causes and conditions of the analyzed crimes are classified as subjective and objective. Most conditions are objective and subjective with predominance or objective or subjective.
The similarity of socio-demographic and morally-psychological features of the victim with the offender was established. The general portrait of the victim based on analyzed crimes is described. Depending on the nature of the behavior of the victim from willful murders and intentional grave bodily injuries committed by the elderly, their classification has been proposed and the following types of behavior of the victims have been proposed: neutral, frivolous-dissolute, conflict-aggressive, despotic-provoking, degraded parasitic.
Prevention of the analyzed crimes consists of measures of general social and special-criminological prevention. To general social measures of prevention include legal, socio-economic, cultural-educational, medical, informative and explanatory ones.
Legal measures of the general social prevention of willful murders and intentional grave bodily injuries committed by the elderly are to improve the legislative framework in the direction of raising the social status of pensioners, ensuring and extending their rights and guarantees in various spheres of life, leveling discrimination on the basis of age criteria, etc. Socio-economic measures are expressed in necessity of raising the level of pensions, eliminating poverty among this category of people; development of a network of institutions and establishment providing social services for the elderly; stimulating and supporting the volunteer movement; etc. Cultural and educational measures are aimed at the improvement of the moral and psychological climate in society, formation of respect for old age, overcoming the manifestations of ageism, etc. Medical measures consist of the development of geriatric hospitals in Ukraine, as well as the widespread practice of the functioning of specialized geriatric offices, centers of age-related pathology, departments at hospitals and rehabilitation centers; etc. Informational and advocacy work is aimed at raising the level of literacy of the elderly in relation to their rights and opportunities, awareness of the functioning of clubs.
Special-criminological prevention of investigated crimes consists of measures of criminological prevention, rejection and termination. The most important prophylactic complexes includes intervention in crisis situations in order to resolve interpersonal conflicts; reduction of the practical possibilities of commission the willful murders and intentional grave bodily injures by elderly; informational work among the population; involvement of the public. At the stage of the prevention willful murders and intentional grave bodily injures committed by the elderly, operative and investigative measures are predominant and combined with the individual psychological ones. Suspension of willful murders and intentional grave bodily injures committed by elderly may consist of an operational response to fights, aggravation of family-friendly conflicts, threats of murder, timely isolation of mentally ill persons, etc., due to the explanatory work with the population on the realization of the right to the necessary defense.
Based on the classification of the victims, depending on the nature of their behavior (neutral, frivolous, degenerative, conflict-aggressive, despotic-provocative, degraded-parasitic), the selection of the necessary measures of victimological prevention for each category of victims of the crimes under investigation has been carried out.
