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Purpose – This chapter will demonstrate the usefulness of mixed methods research in an understudied area of criminology and criminal justice, namely elder financial exploitation.

Methodology/approach – The data and research methodology described in this chapter come from a recently completed comprehensive case study of elder financial exploitation in Florida.

Findings – Elder financial exploitation is a growing social problem in the United States and there is little theoretical or empirical research available regarding the prevalence, risk factors, protective factors, and consequences. Given that the current status of the research literature is largely fragmented and discontinuous, conducting a survey aimed at validation was not possible. Through the mixed method case study involving a literature review, focus group discussions, and interview questions, the authors have developed a theoretical framework for elder financial exploitation that can be quantitatively validated.

Originality/value – This chapter provides justification for the expanded use of mixed methods research for other understudied topic areas within criminology and criminal justice and provides the foundation for the development of a comprehensive theoretical framework for explaining elder financial exploitation.

The purpose of this paper was to study the vexing problem of defining financial exploitation. Advocates and practitioners in the field who have been battling financial exploitation are pleased to observe the increased attention that financial exploitation is receiving at all levels of society. With this increased attention, however, there has been a conflation of terms used to describe financial exploitation, resulting in some confusion about what constitutes financial exploitation.

Fully recognizing that definitions serve different functions, this paper identifies three main purposes of a definition and then describes the myriad ways financial exploitation has been defined in the research literature, by organizations, and in civil and criminal statutes.

Financial exploitation has been defined in multiple ways within and across categories. Furthermore, the definition has expanded over time. This paper proposes the need for greater definitional clarity around the concept of financial exploitation, and argues that at a minimum a distinction must be made between financial exploitation and financial fraud.

This is the first paper to comprehensively review the myriad ways in which financial exploitation has been defined in the literature, by organizations and within state civil and criminal statutes.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the results of an online program evaluation survey conducted in the USA in 2018 which was designed to understand how members of an enhanced multidisciplinary team (E-MDT) use the expertise of a forensic accountant (FA) in suspected cases of elder financial exploitation.

This paper analyzes responses to an online survey from 54 E-MDT members. Narrative responses to open-ended questions were analyzed by using cross-case thematic analysis. Data from demographic questions and those with nominal response options were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Overwhelmingly, the E-MDT members described how useful the FA’s expertise and subsequent detailed reports are in helping determine whether financial exploitation is taking place and providing information needed to continue an investigation and pursue criminal charges.

The increasing longevity and sheer number of older adults present ongoing challenges in the fight to address financial exploitation. Findings suggest that FAs working with E-MDTs can help identify signs, collect evidence and help investigate cases of suspected financial abuse of older adults. The development of training programs focused on educating accountants to fill a need in a growing area of forensic accounting may be needed.

This paper adds to the growing evidence of multidisciplinary teams as an effective model for investigating cases of financial elder exploitation by focusing specifically on the expertise of an FA.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss financial fraud and exploitation against seniors relating to wills, trusts and guardianship. The paper describes how this fraud affects its victims, points out red flags and makes recommendations that may help control this pervasive type of fraud.

Information from a range of different sources, such as journal publications, law textbooks, law enforcement websites and estate planning cases are used as a basis to provide information about how fraudsters are committing this type of fraud, which red flags to watch out for and how to prevent this fraud from occurring.

Fraud relating to wills, trusts and guardianship is oftentimes difficult to detect and continues to be a grave threat to its victims. While this fraud will likely never be eradicated, specific efforts have been put into place to track financial exploitation. Further steps presented in this paper can be deployed to help rein in these fraud schemes.

The paper provides useful information about frauds related to wills, trusts and guardianship for stakeholders. This includes, but is not limited to, anyone whose work is related to seniors, such as accountants, lawyers, regulators, bankers, financial planners, law enforcement personnel, academics, medical professionals, caregivers, family members and ethicists. These stakeholders can use this information to help combat this fraud and prevent not only financial losses of seniors but physical harm as well.

Decreasing financial exploitation of seniors will not only improve their financial position and may reduce their reliance on Medicaid but will also improve their mental and physical well-being and save lives.

Research in the area of maltreatment and exploitation of older adults is still in its early stages, as knowledge of effective prevention, intervention and remediation practices are limited. This paper adds to the research in this arena by drawing on a unique set of resources that shed light on financial fraud commonly committed against seniors. This study also makes much needed recommendations that are aimed to prevent this threat related to wills, trusts and guardianship.

Little empirical attention has been given to adult protective services (APS) investigations and the clients involved in those investigations. The purpose of this study was to explore aspects of the APS investigation of and response to reported elder maltreatment, the perceptions of elderly victims and their refusal of services, and to compare findings by the type of maltreatment involved (financial exploitation, physical abuse, neglect, and hybrid financial exploitation).

Data were collected from two sources over a two‐year period: in‐depth interviews with 71 APS caseworkers and 55 of the corresponding elderly victims who experienced substantiated elder maltreatment; and a statewide database that contained 2,142 substantiated cases of elder abuse.

Many aspects of the APS investigation and response differed by the type of maltreatment involved. While elderly victims were generally cooperative and satisfied with the APS intervention, 38 percent would have preferred APS not to investigate their case. Elderly clients responded differentially to offers of assistance, depending on the type of abuse involved, with victims of physical abuse most likely to refuse services.

Future research will want to understand why elderly victims refuse services in order to develop appropriate interventions.

New approaches may be required for intervening in physical abuse cases, including collaborations between APS and domestic violence advocates and the inclusion of services for perpetrators.

This is the first large‐scale study to examine elderly victims' refusal of services, further enhanced by the analysis of refusal of services by type of abuse, thereby revealing a group of victims for which changes in intervention strategies may be necessary.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of both charitable and religious fundraising amongst vulnerable older adults. It is a practice that is hidden and opaque. The circumstances surrounding the death of Olive Clarke in spring 2015, however, suggest that it is a practice that involves “intrusive” and “excessive” practices. Fundraising amongst vulnerable older adults is largely unregulated and independently monitored. This paper argues that ensuring the protection of vulnerable older adults requires substantial change and new accountabilities.

This paper explores current approaches to financial abuse and the focus on family and professional carers as the main likely perpetrators. However, using literature from both the USA and Australia, it considers notions of “trust” and professional behaviour, and the way that vulnerable older adults are subject to new forms of abuse as a result of financial technology such as online and telephone banking. It links this with the practices of charitable fundraisers using techniques such as cold calling and direct mail.

The circumstances surrounding the death of Olive Clarke suggest that charities, and those fundraise for charities appear to engage in a practice whereby they sell the names of likely donors to each other. This practice opens opportunities for abusive relationships to take place. At the same time many clergy operate like the single GP surgeries that allowed Shipman to practice unnoticed and unaccountable. The relationship between clergy and their aging congregation, who are relied upon to raise funds for church activities, open up the opportunity for abuse to take to place. Few records on charitable giving exist that permit regulation and independent scrutiny.

Current research in this area is limited by the focus on family and professional carers as likely perpetrators of financial abuse, and through attention on child sexual abuse in general. There is a lack of research on charitable giving, and the focus tends to be on altruism rather than the practices and motivations of fundraisers themselves. This paper intends to begin an academic debate to the context in which Olive Clarke took her own life.

In the wake of the death of Olive Clarke the Fundraising Standards Board has been tasked with reviewing the way charities raise funds amongst vulnerable older adults. No one has yet used the language of financial abuse, choosing to opt for the terms “excessive” and “intrusive” there is a need to shift this debate and encourage greater regulation and accountability.

This paper seeks to explore how some of the organisations that are supposed to protect and care for vulnerable people engage in practices that exploit and abuse. It is timely as debates about charitable giving are beginning to increase, and the role of the church and the religious groups in the abuse of children is being considered by the new independent inquiry in the UK. It has significant implications for accountability, trust and regulation.

The financial abuse of older adults is rarely considered outside of the family – carer nexus. However, changes in the banking and financial systems means that opportunities for abuse are greater than ever before. Prior to the death of Olive Clarke in spring 2015 very little attention on the nature of charitable and religious fundraising amongst older adults has taken place, and consequently this paper is highly original, but equally timely.

An ageing population comes with its own set of challenges such as impaired financial capacity and resultant dependency on others to manage financial affairs. Dependency, in turn, as the evidence suggests, creates opportunities for financial exploitation of older adults. Related studies have primarily examined the clinical features and correlates of financial capacity or have attempted to develop its multidimensional measures. Both of which do little to resolve issues associated with impaired financial capacity. This paper aims to make a case for future researchers to assess older adults’ financial capacity from a non-clinical aspect.

Drawing on the notion of self-efficacy, as encapsulated within the social cognitive theory, this paper presents evidence from a host of different domains to demonstrate the potential contributions of self-efficacy to older adults’ financial capacity.

The contributions of self-efficacy in preserving older adults’ financial capacity appear to be much more profound than is currently acknowledged in the literature, thereby overlooking potentially promising and cost-effective interventions for autonomous ageing.

This paper presents a novel application of self-efficacy to autonomous ageing. Within this context, potential routes to the deployment of self-efficacy-based interventions are also discussed.

Financial abuse is widely recognised to be an important but under‐reported risk area for vulnerable adults, especially elderly people. This paper provides an introduction to relevant issues, indicators and remedies. It also highlights areas needing further attention both within the professional council and financial systems such as banking.

Financial abuse can be difficult to detect, and it is deemed to have the same potential to cause distress as other forms of abuse. The delegation of financial affairs brings with it the scope for degrees of exploitation. This study aims to assess the adequacy of the statutory provisions and courts in England and Wales at protecting at risk older people from the harm of financial abuse.

This review focuses on the enduring power of attorney and the lasting power of attorney provisions. Cases discussed were selected based on their judgments’ significance in relation to these powers, the range of issues illustrated and the extent of associated commentary and attention received in the literature. This piece is presented as a narrative review, and as such, references to case law and associated commentary are non-exhaustive.

Shortcomings and vulnerabilities are identified and explored with respect to both provisions. These are contrasted and contextualised in view of the broader challenges and complexities associated with preventing financial abuse within society. Key consideration is given to powers of creation, registration, supervision, objection and revocation in addition to the role and powers of both the Office of the Public Guardian and the Court of Protection.

Given these powers of attorney are exercised during a donor’s lifetime, they will directly experience their effects. This review illustrates there remains scope for further reform to introduce new safeguards and bolster existing ones to mitigate the risk of financial exploitation and to support people to plan and safeguard their financial future with increased confidence and security.

This paper reports on banking and finance professionals' decision making in the context of elder financial abuse. The aim was to identify the case features that influence when abuse is identified and when action is taken.

Banking and finance professionals (n=70) were shown 35 financial abuse case scenarios and were asked to judge how certain they were that the older person was being abused and the likelihood of taking action.

Three case features significantly influenced certainty of financial abuse: the nature of the financial problem presented, the older person's level of mental capacity and who was in charge of the client's money. In cases where the older person was more confused and forgetful, there was increased suspicion that financial abuse was taking place. Finance professionals were less certain that financial abuse was occurring if the older person was in charge of his or her own finances.

The research findings have been used to develop freely available online training resources to promote professionals' decision making capacity (www.elderfinancialabuse.co.uk). The resources have been advocated for use by Building Societies Association as well as CIFAS, the UK's Fraud Prevention Service.