Japanese Senior Citizens turn to crime

History is being made on the northern island of Hokkaido, Japan; in 2006 the total arrests of elderly people exceeded arrests of teenagers. The elderly accounted for 880 arrests mostly for shoplifting while teens were arrested 642 times. Crimes among the elderly have continued to surge; for every two teenagers arrested on this island, police arrested three people 65 and older.
The elderly in Japan are committing crimes-nearly all of them non-violent, mostly petty theft-because of loneliness, social isolation and poverty, according to a recent Justice Ministry study.
The trend echoes across Japan, where crimes committed by the elderly are increasing at a far faster pace than the elderly population.
While the 65-and-older population has doubled in the past two decades, crime among the elderly has increased fivefold, according to government statistics released this month. Japan's overall crime rate always low by world standards has fallen for the past five years.
Around the world criminologists have found the propensity to commit crime peaks in the late teens and early 20's and falls off steadily as people age. But Japan, with the world's oldest population and lowest proportion of children is heading into charted territory for criminal behaviour.
A desperate desire for human contact or for novelty in their lives leads many elderly people to shoplift, experts say.
"They want somebody to talk to,"said Hidehiko Yamamura of the National Shoplifting Prevention Organization, a non-profit group in Tokyo. "If they get caught, they talk to the police. They are very easy to catch."
To slow the growth of elder-crime, the Justice Ministry recommends financial and social programme to stabilize the lives of the elderly.
Wonder if Japanese elderly will join the ranks of bingo players and shuffle board enthusiasts?