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Changes happened not only in the workplace but also at home. In agrarian societies, a married couple cared for their aging parents. The oldest members of the family contributed to the household by doing chores, cooking, and helping with child care. As economies shifted from agrarian to industrial, younger generations moved to cities to work in factories. The elderly began to be seen as an expensive burden. They did not have the strength and stamina to work outside the home. What began during industrialization, a trend toward older people living apart from their grown children, has become commonplace.
Mistreatment and abuse of the elderly is a major social problem. As expected, with the biology of aging, the elderly sometimes become physically frail. This frailty renders them dependent on others for care—sometimes for small needs like household tasks, and sometimes for assistance with basic functions like eating and toileting. Unlike a child, who also is dependent on another for care, an elder is an adult with a lifetime of experience, knowledge, and opinions—a more fully developed person. This makes the care providing situation more complex.
Elder abuse describes when a caretaker intentionally deprives an older person of care or harms the person in their charge. Caregivers may be family members, relatives, friends, health professionals, or employees of senior housing or nursing care. The elderly may be subject to many different types of abuse.
In a 2009 study on the topic led by Dr. Ron Acierno, the team of researchers identified five major categories of elder abuse: 1) physical abuse, such as hitting or shaking, 2) sexual abuse including rape and coerced nudity, 3) psychological or emotional abuse, such as verbal harassment or humiliation, 4) neglect or failure to provide adequate care, and 5) financial abuse or exploitation (Acierno 2010).
The National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), a division of the U.S. Administration on Aging, also identifies abandonment and self-neglect as types of abuse. [link] shows some of the signs and symptoms that the NCEA encourages people to notice.
| Type of Abuse | Signs and Symptoms |
|---|---|
| Physical abuse | Bruises, untreated wounds, sprains, broken glasses, lab findings of medication overdosage |
| Sexual abuse | Bruises around breasts or genitals, torn or bloody underclothing, unexplained venereal disease |
| Emotional/psychological abuse | Being upset or withdrawn, unusual dementia-like behavior (rocking, sucking) |
| Neglect | Poor hygiene, untreated bed sores, dehydration, soiled bedding |
| Financial | Sudden changes in banking practices, inclusion of additional names on bank cards, abrupt changes to will |
| Self-neglect | Untreated medical conditions, unclean living area, lack of medical items like dentures or glasses |
How prevalent is elder abuse? Two recent U.S. studies found that roughly 1 in 10 elderly people surveyed had suffered at least one form of elder abuse. Some social researchers believe elder abuse is underreported and that the number may be higher. The risk of abuse also increases in people with health issues such as dementia (Kohn and Verhoek-Oftedahl 2011). Older women were found to be victims of verbal abuse more often than their male counterparts.
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