Book Review: Wahidin, A., & Cain, M. (Eds.). (2006). Ageing, Crime and Society. Devon, UK: Willan Publishing. 276 pp

• Published date: 01 June 2008
• DOI: 10.1177/1057567708319410
• Date: 01 June 2008
• Author: Shelly Schaefer
• Subject Matter: Articles

Book Reviews
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Wahidin, A., & Cain, M. (Eds.). (2006). Ageing, Crime and Society. Devon, UK: Willan
Publishing. 276 pp.
DOI: 10.1177/1057567708319410
Azrini Wahidin and Maureen Cain’s edited collection provides 15 chapters examining age and
crime across a wide range of topics, including elderly abuse and the ageing population within the
criminal justice system. Ageing, Crime and Society begins with an introduction by Lord
Ramsbotham, the former chief inspector of prisons in the United Kingdom, who hails Wahidin and
Cain’s research agenda as a critical piece of work in ageing studies. Lord Ramsbotham hopes this
book will influence authorities to make the necessary policy changes to ensure humane treatment of
elderly prisoners. Wahidin and Cain set a lofty goal for this book: to provide a theoretical basis for
the inclusion of the “unyoung” population in future criminological research.
Ageing, Crime and Society is divided into four sections. The first section of the book examines
the social construction of terminology used to identify the ageing criminal population, followed by
theoretical suggestions for studying this particular group. In chapter 2, Powell and Wahidin describe
how gerontology perspectives, such as political and economic studies of ageing, gender, postmod-
ernism, and institutional effects can be used as a connection between ageing studies and criminol-
ogy. In chapter 3, Mike Brogden and Preeti Nijar describe the current debate between two dominant
domains influencing ageing studies: welfare and justice discourses. They propose a social harm
approach to ageing studies, bringing together the two opposing discourses by refocusing age and
crime within a larger social and economic context. The first section concludes with a chapter review-
ing the literature on the transitional experiences from prison for those who are 50 years of age and
older. In this review, Judith Phillips argues that a justice approach to ageing studies avoids current
stereotypes...