How Do Abused Elderly Persons and Their Adult Protective Services Caseworkers View Law Enforcement Involvement and Criminal Prosecution, and What Impact Do These Views Have on Case Processing?

Abstract

This study examined law enforcement and prosecution involvement in 71 cases of elder abuse where pure financial exploitation (PFE), physical abuse (PA), neglect (Neglect), or hybrid financial exploitation (HFE) (financial exploitation co-occurring with physical abuse and/or neglect) occurred in a domestic setting. Victims of elder abuse and assigned Adult Protective Services (APS) caseworkers were systematically interviewed. Law enforcement officials were involved in 54% of the cases, and 18% of the cases were prosecuted. PA was significantly more likely to trigger a law enforcement response and to be prosecuted than Neglect or PFE. HFE involved prosecution for assault rather than financial exploitation. Generally, the victims of elder abuse were not receptive to criminal justice involvement, which appears to have a significant impact upon the level of this involvement. The reasons for this reluctance are discussed, as well as the challenges and limitations of criminal justice system involvement and related implications for policy and practice.

Iowa Dependent Adult Abuse Prosecutions From 2006 Through 2015: Health Care Providers’ Concern

“… 21 Another study of 71 Adult Protective Services–substantiated elder abuse cases in Virginia resulted in 13 (18%) being prosecuted, with the majority of those cases being physical abuse. 22 From these 3 studies, it is difficult to compare prosecution rates because the method of finding and reviewing criminal cases is diverse, the type of abuse covered by individual state statutes is not the same across states, 23 and the individual data elements are defined differently. 13 Noting that financial exploitation was the main dependent adult abuse charge, it is worthwhile for health care providers to also report allegations to law enforcement, which may lead to increased prosecutions of abuse.…”

All Elder Abuse Perpetrators Are Not Alike

“…Jackson and Hafemeister (2013c) found that physical abuse cases were significantly more likely to be prosecuted than financial exploitation, caregiver neglect, or hybrid financial exploitation cases (i.e., financial exploitation co-occurring with physical abuse and/or neglect). However, Navarro et al (2013) found that the odds of conviction were significantly greater when there was co-occurring financial exploitation and physical abuse than when either occurred in isolation.…”

“…) However, historically, elder abuse has not been considered criminal (Krienert, Walsh, & Turner, 2009) and therefore very few cases were referred for prosecution and even fewer were actually prosecuted, with most cases receiving no response (Jackson & Hafemeister, 2013b). While this is changing, prosecution remains uncommon (Ernst et al, 2013;Jackson & Hafemeister, 2013c). Meirson (2008) reported that Rhode Island APS received 900 complaints of elder maltreatment in 1 year, of which 85% were substantiated.…”

Recognizing the Trauma Experienced by Community-Dwelling Older Victims of Financial Abuse Perpetrated by Trusted Others

“…Unfortunately, our applied knowledge is likewise deficient. APS, for example, find financial exploitation investigations more difficult than other forms of abuse, and they are inadequately trained in financial exploitation investigations (Jackson and Hafemeister 2013b). In general, the field is devoid of evidence-based practices for elder justice professionals (Ernst et al 2014).…”