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Disrespect and Isolation: Elder Abuse in Chinese Communities*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Sandra Tam  and
Sheila Neysmith
Sandra Tam*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto
Sheila Neysmith
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to: / Les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être addressées à : Sandra H.S. Tam, MSW, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, 246 Bloor Street West, Toronto ON M5S 1A1. ([email protected])
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Abstract

Based on a qualitative study of home care workers, this paper aims to understand elder abuse of Chinese Canadians. The findings show disrespect is the key form elder abuse takes in the Chinese community. As a culturally specific form of abuse, disrespect remains invisible under categories of elder abuse derived from a Western cultural perspective. Applying a social exclusion framework to understand the dynamic of elder abuse, we argue that as a marginalized racial minority immigrant, an elderly Chinese person's vulnerability to abuse is increased under conditions of social isolation.

Résumé

Basé sur une étude qualitative portant sur les soins à domicile, cet article vise à comprendre les mauvais traitements infligés aux sino-canadiens âgés. Les résultats montrent que, au sein de la communauté chinoise, les mauvais traitements prennent le plus souvent la forme d'un manque de respect. En tant que forme d'abus spécifique à une certaine culture, le manque de respect est un mauvais traitement qui demeure invisible lorsqu'on l'analyse dans une perspective culturelle occidentale. En nous servant d'un cadre centré sur l'exclusion sociale pour comprendre la dynamique des abus infligés aux aînés, nous soutenons que, en tant que minorité raciale d'immigrants marginalisés, les personnes âgées d'origine chinoise sont particulièrement vulnérables aux mauvais traitements dans un contexte d'isolement social.

Keywords

agingChinesehome care workerselder abusesocial exclusionvieillissementChinoisaide familialeabus envers les personnes âgéesexclusion sociale
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , Summer/Été 2006 , pp. 141 - 151
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2006

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Footnotes

*

We thank the managers, coordinators, and staff at Carefirst Seniors and Community Services Association for initiating and supporting this research under the City of Toronto's Breaking the Cycle of Violence grants program. We also thank the anonymous reviewers whose critical assessments of earlier drafts helped us write a better paper.

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