elder abuse

Examples of elder abuse in the following topics:

• Elder Abuse

  • The main types of elder abuse include physical abuse, emotional abuse, financial abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect.
  • Elder abuse is further subdivided into domestic elder abuse and institutional elder abuse.
  • Unfortunately, the nature of dependency inherent to elder abuse can make cases of elder abuse especially difficult to prosecute.
  • Elder abuse can have serious consequences.
  • Elder abuse can even result in death.

• Aging and Race

  • Before turning to the medical concerns that accompany aging, one should note that elders of different racial backgrounds also experience different frequencies of elder abuse.
  • Elder abuse is a general term to describe certain types of harm that are inflicted upon older adults.
  • The most common form of elder abuse is neglect or improper care for vulnerable seniors.
  • Unfortunately, this is usually inflicted by people whom the elder trusts and who are responsible for caring for the elder, such as family members or caretakers at elder homes.
  • Research indicates that black senior citizens are more likely to be abused than white citizens.

• Differential Treatment by Age or Ageism

  • Elder abuse is a serious problem in the U.S.
  • There are nearly 2 million cases of elder abuse and self-neglect in the U.S. every year.
  • Abuse refers to psychological/emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, caregiver neglect or financial exploitation while self-neglect refers to behaviors that threaten the person's own health and safety.
  • And elders who suffer from self-neglect have an even higher risk (up to 5 times higher) of premature death than do elders who do not suffer from self-neglect.
  • The higher risk of death associated with elder abuse effects both those who are physically and cognitively impaired and those who are more capable.

• The Older Years

  • While discrimination toward the young is primarily visible through behavioral restrictions, discrimination toward the elderly ranges from behavioral restrictions to physical abuse.
  • There are nearly two million cases of elder abuse and self-neglect in the U.S. every year.
  • Abuse refers to psychological/emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and caregiver neglect or financial exploitation, while self-neglect refers to behaviors that threaten the person's own health and safety.

• Socioemotional Development in Late Adulthood

  • Increased dependency can also put older adults at risk of elder abuse.
  • This kind of abuse occurs when a caretaker intentionally deprives an older person of care or harms the person in their charge.
  • The elderly may be subject to many different types of abuse, including physical, emotional, or psychological.
  • Approximately one in ten older adults report being abused, and this number rises in the cases of dementia or physical limitations.

• Physical Development in Adolescence

  • Some studies show that boys who mature earlier tend to be more popular and independent but are also at a greater risk for substance abuse and early sexual activity (Flannery, Rowe, & Gulley, 1993; Kaltiala-Heino, Rimpela, Rissanen, & Rantanen, 2001).
  • Early maturing girls may face increased teasing and sexual harassment related to their developing bodies, which can contribute to self-consciousness and place them at a higher risk for anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and eating disorders (Ge, Conger, & Elder, 2001; Graber, Lewinsohn, Seeley, & Brooks-Gunn, 1997; Striegel-Moore & Cachelin, 1999).

• Age and Race

  • There is evidence that black senior citizens are more likely to be abused - both physically and psychologically and suffer greater financial exploitation than do white senior citizens.Further, recent demographic profiles suggest that social aging varies across racial groups, and demonstrates that minority elders (especially Hispanic and African American identified) typically enter later life with less education, less financial resources, and less access to health care than their white counterparts.Finally, researchers have noted that minority groups' greater likelihood of facing patterns of structural disadvantage throughout the life course, such as racial discrimination, poverty, and fewer social, political, and economic resources on average, create significant racial variations in the stages or age-related trajectories of racial minorities and majorities that may be observed at all points of the life span, and contribute to disparities in health, income, self-perceived age, mortality, and morbidity.

• Child Abuse

  • There are four major categories of child abuse: neglect, physical abuse, psychological/emotional abuse, and sexual abuse.
  • Neglect is the most common type of abuse in the United States and accounts for over 60 percent of child abuse cases.
  • Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent abuses a child for sexual stimulation.
  • Effects of child sexual abuse include guilt and self-blame, flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, and fear of things associated with the abuse.
  • Out of all the possible forms of abuse, emotional abuse is the hardest to define.

• Social Isolation

  • Social isolation is a larger problem for elders now than in the past, due to the decreasing size of families in Western countries.
  • In the past, elders were not at increased risk for social isolation because they would move in with their children.
  • Now, many elders are moved into elder homes with less frequent contact with their children.
  • However, many elder homes and retirement facilities are working to combat social isolation by increasing programming for their residents.

• Family Violence

  • In this definition, domestic violence takes many forms, including physical aggression or assault, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, controlling or domineering behaviour, intimidation, stalking, passive/covert abuse, and economic deprivation.
  • Physical abuse is abuse involving contact intended to cause feelings of intimidation, pain, injury, or other physical suffering or bodily harm.
  • Degradation in any form can be considered psychological abuse.
  • Verbal abuse is a form of emotionally abusive behavior involving the use of language.
  • Economic abuse is a form of abuse when one intimate partner has control over the other partner's access to economic resources.