NCJ Number
106120
Date Published
1986
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This survey (conducted from September 1985 through February 1986) of a random sample of 2,020 community-dwelling elderly persons (65 years old or older) in the Boston metropolitan area focused on their experiences of physical violence, verbal aggression, and neglect.
Abstract
Physical abuse consisted of at least one act of physical violence against a respondent since the age of 65. Verbal aggression involved a verbal insult or threat at least 10 times in the preceding year, and neglect was the deprivation of some assistance important for daily living on numerous occasions or in a serious manner. Thirty-two elderly persons per 1,000 experienced some form of maltreatment, which translates to an estimate of between 8,646 and 13,487 abused and neglected elders in the greater Boston area and between 701,000 and 1,093,560 nationwide. In finding that the abused elderly are more likely to be living with someone else, this study confirms the findings of other studies. It differs from other studies, however, in finding that the elderly were most likely abused by a spouse than by a child with whom they were living. There were approximately equal numbers of abused men and women, in contrast to other studies which have found most abused elderly persons to be women. The study did find, however, that women were more likely than men to suffer serious injury. Service providers and the elderly should be educated about spouse abuse among the elderly, and services to the elderly should be tailored to spouse abuse. 5 tables and 34 references.