Perceived Effectiveness of Legislation Concerning Abuse of the Elderly: A Survey of Professionals in Canada and the United States

Abstract

RÉSUMÉUn sondage sur l'abus et les mauvais traitements faits aux personnes âgées a été posté à 174 professionnels canadiens et américains susceptibles de compter parmi leur clientèle des victimes d'abus. La négligence représentait la forme la plus courante de mauvais traitements, suivi par l'abus sur le plan financier et les mauvais traitements sur le plan psychologique. La violence physique constituait le plus petit nombre de cas signalés. Même si diverses relations de famille ont été décrites, les fils d'âge moyen représentaient la plus large proportion de personnes responsables d'un comportement abusif, alors que les mères âgées représentaient les victimes les plus fréquentes. Peu importe les lois établies, les répondants ont déclaré que celles-ci étaient généralement efficaces. Le manque de fonds pour administrer les lois et offrir des services aux personnes âgées victimes d'abus représentait la question qui préoccupait le plus les répondants.

Elder Abuse: Feminist and Ageist Perspectives

“…The abuse is often physical, including pushing, grabbing, shoving, shaking, throwing things, and slapping. Bond, Penner, and Yellen (1995) found middle-aged sons to be the most common abusers, and Godkin, Wolf, and Pillemer (1989) reported that the largest proportion of abusers in their study were either sons or husbands. Sharon (1991) confirmed the preceding profile noting that spouses and sons were more likely than daughters to be abusers.…”

“…In a study of Canada and the United States, Bond et al (1995) found that neglect was the most commonly reported category of elder abuse, followed by financial and psychological abuse. Physical abuse was the least frequently reported category.…”

A Gendered Analysis of the Abuse of Older Adults: Evidence from Professionals

“…Blakely and Dolon (1991) identified that professionals in specific occupational groups, including law enforcement, the health and medical professions, social workers, the clergy, and lawyers, are instrumental in detecting the abuse and neglect of seniors. These professionals are commonly represented in abuse research as they are likely to be involved with cases of abuse (Bond, Penner, & Yellen, 1995). In addition to these professionals, those working in financial institutions are instrumental in detecting financial abuse in particular (Allen, 2000).…”

Gender, Relationships, and Elder Abuse

“…However, adult children are the most frequent perpetrators (National Center on Elder Abuse, 1998; Thomson et al, 2011). The few studies that report gender of children present conflicting data about whether daughters or sons are the more likely assailants (Bond et al, 1995;Sharon, 1991;Thomson et al, 2011). However, data from two other areas suggest that there is no reason to think the sanctity of the mother-daughter bond prevents daughters from abusing their aging mothers.…”

“…Most female victims of elder abuse are mothers, and many perpetrators of abuse are daughters (Bond, Penner, & Yellen, 1995;Sharon, 1991;Thomson et al, 2011). This may reflect population demographics as older women outnumber older men (Werner, 2011), and daughters are more likely to be providing caregiving support than sons (Coward & Dwyer, 1990), thus providing increased opportunities for these two groups to interact and for elder abuse and neglect to occur.…”