Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T05:31:15.208Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Critical concepts in elder abuse research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2013

Thomas Goergen  and
Marie Beaulieu
Thomas Goergen*
Affiliation:
Department of Criminology and Crime Prevention, German Police University, Muenster, Germany
Marie Beaulieu
Affiliation:
School of Social Work and Research Centre on Aging, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Thomas Goergen, PhD, Department of Criminology and Crime Prevention, German Police University, Zum Roten Berge 18-24, D-48165 Muenster, Germany. Phone: +49-2501-806327; Fax: +49-2501-806460. Email: [email protected].
Get access

Abstract

Background: This paper identifies core elements in principal definitions of elder abuse or mistreatment of older adults (EA/MOA) and discusses the relevance of four crucial concepts: age, vulnerability, trust, and power balance in relationships.

Method: A critical analysis of selected literature in EA/MOA with a focus on works from the last 10 years.

Results: Current definitions of EA/MOA share commonalities regarding an understanding of elder abuse as a status offence, the inclusion of both acts and omissions, and the consideration of multiple levels of behavior and its effects. Definitions differ with regard to aspects as crucial as the intentionality of an abusive action and its actual or potential harmful effects. EA/MOA can be considered as a complex subtype of victimization in later life limited to victim–perpetrator relationships, where the perpetrator has assumed responsibility for the victim, the victim puts trust in the offender, or the role assigned to the offending person creates the perception and expectation that the victim may trust the perpetrator. Vulnerability is identified as a key variable in EA/MOA theory and research. With regard to neglect, the mere possibility of being neglected presupposes a heightened level of vulnerability. Power imbalance often characterizes victim – perpetrator relationships but is not a necessary characteristic of abuse.

Conclusion: Research on EA/MOA needs conceptual development. Confining phenomena of EA/MOA to specific relationships and tying them to notions of vulnerability has implications for research design and sampling and points to the limits of population-based victimization surveys.

Keywords

elder abusemistreatment of older adultschronological agevulnerabilityrisktrustpower
Type
Special Issue Review Articles
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 25 , Issue 8: Elder abuse an international perspective , August 2013 , pp. 1217 - 1228
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Action on Elder Abuse. (1995). Action on Elder Abuse's Definition of Elder Abuse. London: Action on Elder Abuse.Google Scholar
Aday, L. A. (2001). At Risk in America, 2nd edn. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Asher, L., Aresu, M., Falaschetti, E. and Mindell, J. (2012). Most older pedestrians are unable to cross the road in time: a cross-sectional study. Age and Ageing, 41, 690–694.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Asp, E., Manzel, K., Koestner, B., Cole, C. A., Denburg, N. L. and Tranel, D. (2012). A neuropsychological test of belief and doubt: damage to ventromedial prefrontal cortex increases credulity for misleading advertising. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 6, 100. doi:10.3389/fnins.2012.00100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baltes, P. B. and Smith, J. (1999). Multilevel and systemic analyses of old age: theoretical and empirical evidence for a fourth age. In Bengtson, V. L. and Schaie, K. W. (eds.), Handbook of Theories of Aging (pp. 153–173). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Baltes, P. B. and Smith, J. (2003). New frontiers in the future of aging: from successful aging of the young old to the dilemmas of the fourth age. Gerontology, 49, 123–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berlau, D. J., Corrada, M. M. and Kawas, C. (2009). The prevalence of disability in the oldest-old is high and continues to increase with age: findings from the 90+ study. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24, 1217–1225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biggs, S. and Haapala, I. (2010). Theoretical development and elder mistreatment: spreading awareness and conceptual complexity in examining the management of socio-emotional boundaries. Ageing International, 35, 171–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonnie, R. J. and Wallace, R. B. (eds.). (2003). Elder Mistreatment: Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation in an Aging America. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.Google Scholar
Christensen, K., Doblhammer, G., Rau, R. and Vaupel, J. W. (2009). Ageing populations: the challenges ahead. Lancet, 374, 1196–1208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, C. A. (2008). Consumer fraud and dementia – lessons learned from conmen. Dementia, 7, 283–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, L. E. and Felson, M. (1979). Social change and crime rate trends: a routine activity approach. American Sociological Review, 44, 588–605.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Commission des droits de la personne et de la jeunesse. (2001). L'exploitation des Personnes Âgées: Vers un Filet de Protection Resserré. Québec, Canada: Publications du Québec.Google Scholar
Dannefer, D. (2003). Cumulative advantage/disadvantage and the life course: cross-fertilizing age and social science theory. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 58, 327–337.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dixon, J.et al. (2010). Defining elder mistreatment: reflections on the United Kingdom study of abuse and neglect of older people. Ageing & Society, 30, 403–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Felson, M. and Boba, R. (2010). Crime and Everyday Life, 4th edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferraro, K. F. and Shippee, T. P. (2009). Aging and cumulative inequality: how does inequality get under the skin? Gerontologist, 49, 333–343.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fulmer, T.et al. (2005). Dyadic vulnerability and risk profiling for elder neglect. Gerontologist, 45, 525–534.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gerstorf, D., Smith, J. and Baltes, P. B. (2006). A systemic-wholistic approach to differential aging: longitudinal findings from the Berlin Aging Study. Psychology and Aging, 21, 645–663.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goergen, T. and Beaulieu, M. (2010). Criminological theory and elder abuse research – fruitful relationship or worlds apart? Ageing International, 35, 185–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gravel, S., Lithwick, M. and Beaulieu, M. (1997). Quand vieillir ensemble fait mal; les mauvais traitements dans les couples aînés. Criminologie, 30, 67–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heise, L. and Garcia-Moreno, C. (2002). Violence by intimate partners. In Krug, E. G., Dahlberg, L. L., Mercy, J., Zwi, A. B. and Lozano, R. (eds.), World Report on Violence and Health (pp. 87–121). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.Google Scholar
Hollis, C. and McDougal, L. (2003). Fifty-One Experiments in Combating Elder Abuse: A Survey of State Criminal Laws Relating to Elder Abuse and Mandatory Reporting. Alexandria, VA: American Prosecutors Research Institute.Google Scholar
Iborra, I. (2008). Elder abuse in the family in Spain. Available at www.inpea.net/images/Spain_Report_2008_Elder.pdf; last accessed 30 July 2012.Google Scholar
Jennings, W. G., Piquero, A. R. and Reingle, J. M. (2012). On the overlap between victimization and offending: a review of the literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17, 16–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, R. and Elliott, T. (2005). Capacity to give evidence in court: issues that may arise when a client with dementia is a victim of crime. Psychiatric Bulletin, 29, 324–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kassebaum, U. B. (2004). Interpersonelles Vertrauen: Entwicklung eines Inventars zur Erfassung spezifischer Aspekte des Konstrukts. PhD thesis, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany. Available at: http://ediss.sub.uni-hamburg.de/volltexte/2004/2125/pdf/Dissertation.pdf; last accessed 31 July 2012.Google Scholar
Luhmann, N. (1988). Familiarity, confidence, trust: problems and alternatives. In Gambetta, D. (ed.), Trust: Making and Breaking Cooperative Relations (pp. 94–107). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Manini, T. M. and Pahor, M. (2009). Physical activity and maintaining physical function in older adults. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 43, 28–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moen, P., Flood, S. M. and Louis, V. (2009). The third way? Older workers’ and younger retirees’ time in paid work and civic engagement. Paper presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Detroit, MI, 29 April 2009.Google Scholar
Morrone, A., Scrivens, K., Smith, C. and Balestra, C. (2011). Measuring vulnerability and resilience in OECD countries. Paper prepared for the IARIW-OECD Conference on Economic Insecurity, Paris, France, 22–23 November 2011. Available at: http://www.iariw.org/papers/2011/MorronePaper.pdf; last accessed 12 August 2012.Google Scholar
Mulroy, M. and O'Neill, D. (2011). Elder abuse extends beyond health and social care to the financial and legal sectors. British Medical Journal, 343, 756–757.Google Scholar
Murray, E. T.et al. (2011). Gender and life course occupational social class differences in trajectories of functional limitations in midlife: findings from the 1946 British birth cohort. Journals of Gerontology Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 66, 1350–1359.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Naegele, B., Boehm, U., Goergen, T., Kotlenga, S. and Petermann, F. (2011). Partnergewalt Gegen Ältere Frauen. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft.Google Scholar
Nerenberg, L. (2008). Elder Abuse Prevention: Emerging Trends and Promising Strategies. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
O'Keefe, M.et al. (2007). UK Study of Abuse and Neglect of Older People: Prevalence Survey Report. London: National Centre for Social Research.Google Scholar
Reis, M. (2000). The IOA Screen: an abuse-alert measure that dispels myths. Generations, 24, 13–16.Google Scholar
Riegelsberger, J. (2005). Trust in Mediated Interactions. PhD thesis, University of London, London.Google Scholar
Roisman, G. I. (2005). Conceptual clarifications in the study of resilience. American Psychologist, 60, 264–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roth, D. L., Perkins, M., Wadley, V. G., Temple, E. and Haley, W. E. (2009). Family caregiving and emotional strain: associations with psychological health in a national sample of community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults. Quality of Life Research, 18, 679–688.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schroeder-Butterfill, E. and Marianti, R. (2006). A framework for understanding old-age vulnerabilities. Aging and Society, 26, 9–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, J. and Gerstorf, D. (2006). Ageing differently: potential and limits. In Daatland, S. O. and Biggs, S. (eds.), Ageing and Diversity: Multiple Pathways and Cultural Migrations (pp. 13–28). Bristol, UK: Policy Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spiers, J. (2000). New perspectives on vulnerability using emic and etic approaches. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 31, 715–721.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Straka, S. M. and Montminy, L. (2006). Responding to the needs of older women experiencing domestic violence. Violence Against Women, 12, 251–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Truman, J. L. (2011). Criminal Victimization, 2010. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice – Bureau of Justice Statistics.Google Scholar
Turner, B. L.et al. (2003). A framework for vulnerability analysis in sustainability science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 100, 8074–8079.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilke, D. J. and Vinton, L. (2005). The nature and impact of domestic violence across age cohorts. Affilia, 20, 316–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkie, R., Thomas, E., Mottram, S., Peat, G. and Croft, P. (2008). Onset and persistence of person-perceived participation restriction in older adults: a 3-year follow-up study in the general population. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 6, 92. doi:10.1186/1477-7525-6-92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolff, J. L. and Kasper, J. D. (2006). Caregivers of frail elders: updating a national profile. Gerontologist, 46, 344–356.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
World Health Organization. (2008). A Global Response to Elder Abuse and Neglect. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO.Google Scholar