Elder Abuse and the Cycle of Violence: Irene's Case Study
This paper examines elder abuse through the lens of Irene's case, a victim of prolonged domestic violence that extended into her later years. The paper identifies key social factors that enable elder abuse, including eroded respect for the elderly, the perception of family matters as private, victims' social isolation, and financial dependency. It then analyzes Irene's experience against Lenore Walker's (1979) four-phase cycle of abuse — tension building, acute violence, reconciliation, and calm — finding that Irene never experienced reconciliation or calm, as the abuse by her husband Norman was succeeded by mistreatment from her son Brian. The paper frames elder abuse as simultaneously an economic, justice, health, social, and gender issue requiring urgent public attention.
- Introduction to Elder Abuse: Defines elder abuse and its broad social dimensions
- Social Issues Arising from Irene's Story: Social factors enabling Irene's prolonged abuse
- Walker's Cycle of Abuse: Overview of Walker's four-phase abuse framework
- The Four Phases Applied to Irene's Case: Each phase mapped to Irene's lived experience
- Conclusion: Absence of reconciliation leaves Irene without reprieve
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What makes this paper effective
- Grounds abstract concepts in a concrete case study (Irene), making theoretical frameworks tangible and easier to follow.
- Frames elder abuse as a multidimensional issue — social, economic, health, and gender — before narrowing to the social dimension, demonstrating awareness of complexity.
- Applies Walker's four-phase cycle critically, noting where Irene's experience departs from the model rather than forcing a tidy fit.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied theoretical analysis: it introduces an established framework (Walker's cycle of abuse) and systematically maps a real case onto each phase, explicitly acknowledging where the model does and does not apply. This honest engagement with the theory's limitations strengthens the analytical credibility of the argument.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a broad definition of elder abuse and its social significance, then narrows to Irene's specific circumstances to identify social enablers of abuse. It transitions into a structured analysis of Walker's four-phase cycle, examining tension building, acute violence, reconciliation, and calm in turn. Each phase is evaluated against Irene's lived experience, culminating in the observation that for Irene no reconciliation or calm ever occurred — abuse simply transferred from one perpetrator to another.
Introduction to Elder Abuse
Elder abuse is the common term referring to any action that interrupts the healthy well-being of an elderly person, or that jeopardizes such a person's chances of enjoying full mental and physical health. Elder abuse concerns what people do to the elderly in their care, as much as what they fail to do. The people involved may be close and trusted family members and friends, or individuals in positions of responsibility.
The problem of elder abuse is often viewed from various angles. It suffices as an economic, justice, social, health, and even gender concern. The gender dimension arises because women constitute the greater percentage of the elderly population across the globe. Therefore, the issue of elder abuse must come to the fore of any plan to care for the elderly. Indications show that if this matter is not prioritized, the incidence of abuse of elderly people is likely to increase as the elderly population grows (Alberta Council of Women's Shelters, 2011). This paper focuses on the social dimension of the problem, with specific attention to Irene's case.
Social Issues Arising from Irene's Story
There are several reasons that lead to the abuse of elderly people within families. One is the continued deterioration of respect for the elderly in most societies. The widespread perception that what happens within family settings is a private family matter does not help, either.
In Irene's case, Brian is hostile toward his mother for what he believes was her indifference in allowing their father to abuse them during their formative years. Brian retaliates by ignoring Irene and treating her as insignificant. He has acquired the habit of yelling at her and treating her more like a household worker (Irene's Journey: Examining the Issues of Domestic Violence in Later Life, 2015). These are tendencies he has absorbed from Norman. Such incidents are indicative of society's failure to provide support and dignified living circumstances for elderly people. The prevailing perception that family affairs are always private appears to aid elder abuse and facilitate scenarios in which elderly people are kept in abusive environments, hidden behind closed doors.
Observers who witness these incidents are likely to dismiss them as purely family quarrels, or to assume they are misreading ordinary family conflicts best resolved by the family members themselves.
Elderly people, for their part, are often too embarrassed to voice their dissent about what happens within their families and homes. Irene is a clear example of this pattern. She lost touch with all her friends, who could not understand why she stayed in her situation (Irene's Journey: Examining the Issues of Domestic Violence in Later Life, 2015).
Another significant social factor that discourages elderly people from disclosing abuse or breaking free from it is financial dependency. In Irene's case, she was not accustomed to fending for herself and was afraid of what might become of her life if she left her abusive sons and the household that, however harmfully, provided her support. The article reports that Irene had not needed to work during her family relationship.
Conclusion
Since there was no reconciliation in Irene's experience, there was no honeymoon or calm either. Instead, abuse transferred from Norman to Brian, leaving Irene without reprieve at any stage of her life. Irene's case illustrates the complex interplay of social isolation, financial dependency, intergenerational violence, and the privatization of family life that allows elder abuse to persist unchallenged. Addressing these social conditions is essential if society is to protect its most vulnerable elderly members.
References
Alberta Council of Women's Shelters. (2011). Abuse of older adults: Guidelines for developing coordinated community response models. Edmonton, AB: Alberta Council of Women's Shelters.
Irene's Journey: Examining the issues of domestic violence in later life. (2015, October 22). Retrieved from National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women: http://www.globalvp.umn.edu/cgi-bin/client.pl
Walker, L. E. (1979). The battered woman. New York: Harper and Row.
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