NCJ Number
178104
Journal
Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect Volume: 10 Issue: 3/4 Dated: 1999 Pages: 115-130
Date Published
1999
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Because elder abuse research reports little consensus regarding gender and age, this study examined 99 incidents of elder abuse in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, by adult children and 86 incidents of elder abuse by spouses and compared the groups using the variables of gender, age, and incidents.
Abstract
The study considered physical abuse, psychological abuse, material abuse, and neglect. Various hypotheses were tested regarding the relationship between gender and elder abuse victim, the relationship between gender and whether the perpetrator was an adult child or a spouse, and whether elderly persons over 75 years of age were more likely to experience abuse than elderly persons between 60 and 75 years of age. Results showed that men were more likely than women to be perpetrators of elder abuse and women were more likely than men to victims of elder abuse. Differences were found between adult children and spouse groups. Elder abuse by adult children was most likely to be financial abuse. Traditional ideas about women and men, as well as ideas about the nature of old age, were factors in elder abusive relationships. Both feminism and ageism explained systemic differences in the status and power of women and men and ageist attitudes toward the elderly, differences that may lead to abusive treatment of older persons. 32 references