Abuse of the Elderly by Family Members

Physical Abuse of Older People by Their Families

When grandpa and grandma are getting on in years and they are living with their children, the data from reliable sources shows that in far too many cases, physical abuse is visited upon the elderly family members by their own children or grandchildren. This is a travesty but moreover it is a felony to physically abuse older people, and family members guilty of those attacks need to be advised that no matter how angry or un-happy they may be by an elderly family member's behaviors, violence is unacceptable.

The fact that Americans are growing older and that many of them are being physically abused -- in numerous cases by their own families -- is a great cause for concern. This paper references scholarly sources that point out the frequency of physical abuses that the elderly are subjected to, and the reasons why they are physically abused.

The first premise of this paper: a report on the frequency, seriousness, perpetrators of and definition of the kinds of physical violence that visited upon elderly people by their own families.

The National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) -- a division of the U.S. Administration on Aging -- reports that abusers of older adults are both women and men, and in fact family members are "more often the abusers than any other group" (NCEA). The data obtained by NCEA shows that the most common abusers are the adult children of older people. Also, the most common perpetrators are "spouses" according to the data from NCEA.

The harming of an aged father or mother is on the one hand a family issue, but on the other hand it is unlawful to harm an older person. In most states, the NCEA points out, there are several laws relating to this problem, and some states have "increased penalties for those who victimize older adults," and across the country law enforcement professionals and prosecutors have received training on the incidences of elder abuse.

The more knowledge that law enforcement officers have regarding their state's penalties and codes the more likely that elderly people that have been abused can receive help and justice. The study that this publication of the NCEA has conducted shows that "…only 16% of the abusive situations are referred for help" and that means that about 84% of situations where elderly people are physically harmed go unreported.

Two studies referenced by the NCEA show that between 3% and 5% of the elderly population in the U.S. have at some time been abused; however the Senate Special Committee on aging gives an estimate that as many as 5 million older people are victims of physical violence, and in most cases, the violence is visited upon them by family members.

Eric Hickey writes in the Encyclopedia of Murder and Violent Crime that frequently the victims of elder abuse have reached "advanced age with impairments," and they tend to be isolated; common kinds of physical abuse includes sexual abuse. These victims "rarely report their victimization" because they are in fear of "future retaliation" and they fear that they might be taken from their homes, Hickey explains (Hickey, 2003, p. 172). Persons "in a position of trust" also abuse, in addition to family members being abusers, elderly people, Hickey continues.

Hickey explains that the majority of abusers are "middle-aged and are the victims' primary care providers and offspring of the abused" (172). The kinds of abuse can be "…bruises, cuts, broken bones, burns, signs of confinement such as rope burns or bindings, untreated injuries, frequent changes of doctors," among other abuses.

The New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA)reported that in a study of 800 cases of "alleged abuse" most of the victims were female and "more than half of the alleged perpetrators were male" and as young as 13 years of age (Brogden, 2000,52). Also, nearly two-thirds of the perpetrators were relatives of the abused, in most cases children of the abused. Meanwhile, a study taken by the Chronic Illness Center in Cleveland, Ohio, reported that of 404 patients, 9.6% showed signs of physical abuse (Brogden, 52).

Another study (done by the National Centre for Elder Abuse) showed that there was an "iceberg theory" at work; in other words, if two older people report being physically abused, there may be ten or more under the water line that did not report the violence against them (Brogden, 53).

Pamela Teaster with the National Center on Elder Abuse published a report based on data collected in the year 2000, and received data from 54 states (including U.S. territories). The data received by Teaster shows forty of those states had a total of 169,946 "multiple, substantiated allegations of maltreatment" and 20.1% of those incidents involved "physical abuse." The victims were "predominately women," and 65.8% were Caucasian while 17.4% were African-American (Teaster, 2000, ix).

Forty-six percent of abused elderly adults were 80 years of age or older and the majority of cases involved "domestic settings" (someone in the family perpetrating violence) while just 8.3% of the physical abuse cases happened in "institutional settings" (i.e., nursing homes and other institutions) (Teaster, ix).

The second premise of this paper: how to protect older people from abuse and how to detect abuse. The National Association of Adult Protective Services Administrators (NAAPSA) published a "Elder Abuse Awareness Kit," designed to protect older people from physical harm.