Age Disparities in Delinquency and Victimhood Across Crime Types: Exploring Age-dependent Dynamics

Crime is an inevitable but manageable aspect of any society. We analysed the age profiles of the suspects and victims of various crimes using a sample of crime records obtained from a regional police station in Sri Lanka. Graphical analysis methods and chi-square tests were used to identify the differences among age groups and different types of crime. For widely reported crimes including housebreaking, theft, robbery, and personal assault, delinquency peaks in 20s and smoothly declines with age. People in their 40s are the most vulnerable to property crimes such as housebreaking and theft. These differences may be explained by the age-related differences in income and unemployment. The suspects of well thought out crimes, such as cheating and breach of trust were the most matured with a peak in 30s-40s. The number of suspects below 20 were significantly low for all types of crimes other than those related to rape and sexual abuse. A strictly adolescent peak of delinquency was observed in 16-19 for crimes associated with abduction, rape and/or sexual abuse and the majority of the victims were children. A child victim or suspect was reported in 10% of all incidents. Involvement in criminal grouping was most prevalent between late teens and 40 years of age. The composite age profile of the suspects complies with the traditional age-crime profile with a minor shift. However, it shows a significant deviation from the age profiles of both convicted and unconvicted prisoners in Sri Lanka, which could be a reflection of delays in arresting and court hearings.