Elder Abuse

Statistical Overview

• 1.
  There are approximately 2.5 million incidents of elder abuse each year, but only 1 in 6 incidents are reported.
• 2.
  Individuals over 80 years old are abused or neglected at a rate 2 or 3 times higher than those under 80.
• 3.
  In almost 90% of the abuse incidents with a known perpetrator (the majority of the cases), the perpetrator is a family member; 60% are adult children or spouses.
• 4.
  Almost half of all elder abuse (48.7%) is neglect; 35.4% is emotional/psychological abuse; 30.2% is financial/material exploitation; 25.6% is physical abuse; abandonment (3.6%) and sexual abuse (0.3%) are the least common types.
• 5.
  Seventy-five percent of the victims of elder abuse suffer from physical frailty and have great difficulty caring for or defending themselves.
• 6.
  The majority of the states have mandatory reporting laws for specified professionals; the most common elder abuse reporters are physicians and health care providers, family members and relatives, and other services providers (National Center on Elder Abuse, 1998).

Definition of Terms

Physical abuse: the use of force that may result in bodily injury, physical pain, or impairment. It includes violent acts such as striking, hitting, beating, shoving, shaking, slapping, kicking, pinching, and burning.

Emotional or psychological abuse: the infliction of anguish, pain, or distress through verbal or nonverbal acts. It includes verbal assaults, insults, threats, intimidation, humiliations, harassment, social isolation, silent treatment, or treating the older person like an infant.

Sexual abuse: nonconsensual sexual contact of any kind with an elderly person. It includes unwanted touching, rape, sodomy, coerced nudity, or sexually explicit photographing.

Neglect: the refusal or failure to fulfill any part of a person's obligation or duties to an elder. It includes failure of fiduciary responsibilities to provide care or failure to provide life necessities such as food, water, clothing, shelter, personal hygiene, medicine, comfort, and/or safety.

Abandonment: the desertion of an elderly person by an individual who has assumed responsibility for [Page 146]providing care or who has physical custody. Desertion can take place in any private or public facility.

Financial or material exploitation: the illegal or improper use of an elder's funds, property, or assets. It includes cashing the person's check without permission, forging the person's signature, misusing or stealing the person's money or property, coercing or deceiving the person into signing any document, and the improper use of guardianship or power of attorney.

Types of Crimes