Mock juror perception of institutional elder neglect (IEN) was investigated in a civil court context. Participants (N=148) read a fictional IEN civil trial summary in which an alleged elderly female victim filed a lawsuit against her nursing home for failure to provide adequate care but died prior to trial. Participants read a version in which (a) previously recorded video testimony from the alleged victim was presented, (b) the alleged victim’s floor-mate testified about witnessing the neglect, or (c) no witness testimony was presented. An ageism scale was completed, and participants indicated the amount of time they spend with elders. Results indicated that there were no main effects of testimony or ageism on likelihood of ruling for the alleged victim, but recorded victim testimony had an indirect effect on ruling through overall plaintiff’s case credibility and pro-victim ratings. Participants who typically had more contact with elders were more likely to rule for the plaintiff and have pro-victim ratings. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of juror attitudes towards elderly people in IEN cases.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Univ., 2007. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

No description available.

Sveriges befolkning blir äldre och äldre. Medellivslängden för män och kvinnor i Sverige ökar succesivt och äldre individer 65 år och uppåt beräknas utgöra en fjärdedel av landets befolkning år 2060. Våld och brott mot äldre har betraktats som en privat angelägenhet och det uppskattas att ca 4 miljoner äldre i europaregionen lever under nån form av fysiskt eller psykiskt våld. Åldringsvåld samt brott mot äldre betraktas idag som ett dolt samhällsproblem. Syftet med denna studie är att därför att undersöka hur brott mot äldre kan förklaras och beskrivas inom litteratur och vetenskaplig forskning, samt hur olika individer utifrån deras professionsroll kan förklara brott som begås mot äldre. Resultatet grundar sig i vetenskaplig forskning och litteratur samt utförda kvalitativa intervjuer med två yrkesverksamma individer inom brottsofferarbete. Via en tematisk analys har resultat visat att brott mot äldre kan förklaras i vetenskaplig forskning och litteratur som något som har en direkt koppling till hur den äldre generationen “är” samt äldres fysiska och psykiska funktionsnedsättningar. Forskningen visar att dessa faktorer utnyttjas av gärningspersoner och därför har den äldre en risk att utsättas för brott. Intervjupersonerna följer forskningens förklaringar till brott mot äldre och att det enligt deras erfarenheter också har koppling till att gärningspersoner utnyttjar äldres goda vilja och psykiska och fysiska funktionsnedsättningar.

The purpose was to elucidate the reactions of formal carers as witnesses and helpers in situations of elder abuse, to illuminate abusive situations and to reflect on the findings from an ethical point of view. Twenty-one district nurses from one county council were interviewed (I, II, III, IV). They described the problems they had when dealing with cases of elder abuse, the uncertainty they felt when they approached the family, identified the abuse and intervened (I). They used no distinct definition of elder abuse but described it as ’overstepping the boundaries of a person’s integrity/autonomy’ (II). In the 44 cases narrated the elderly people were mostly physically and/or psychologically impaired, the person abused could either be the impaired elderly person, the informal carer or both. Abuse was related to the inability of one party to meet the demands made on him/herself, the other person, or to a history of violence (III). The cases narrated were analysed for reliability and were considered reliable (IV). Questionnaires submitted to 163 district nurses revealed 33 cases of elder abuse (V) and to home service assistants 97 cases (VI). The abused elderly people were often very old women, mostly healthy or unhealthy in equal proportions. The perpetrators were mostly close relatives, responsible or not responsible for the caring. The abusive acts often involved a combination of psychological, physical, and financial abuse and neglect. Mental disturbance and alcohol abuse, as well as financial reasons were reported as contributing to the abuse (V, VI). The attitudes of general practitioners, district nurses and home service assistants towards elder abuse and the interventions suggested in hypothetical cases of elder abuse were investigated (VII). All groups were uncertain about their attitudes towards elder abuse. Their suggested interventions were amalgamated into three groups; sparse and of the social type, more specific and of the health care and voluntary type, or overall types of intervention. The situation, profession and organization seemed to result in different interventions (VII). The findings were reflected on using Lögstrup’s ethic as a framework, and the conclusion was that in order to be able to intervene successfully formal carers need to find solutions on a meta-level. Conventions and norms must be developed and public responsibility is needed. / <p>S. 1-82: sammanfattning, s. 85-199: 7 uppsatser</p> / digitalisering@umu

The general objectives of the study were to evaluate a social work support group programme with informal caregivers that aimed to enhance the quality of care provided to older persons in an urban and rural community setting in Namibia. In order to achieve the general objectives of the study, the following specific objectives were formulated: * To explore how informal caregiving situations in urban and rural communities lead to elder abuse and neglect. * To describe existing literature on the various factors that contribute to elder abuse and neglect within community settings. * To develop a support group programme for informal caregivers of older persons in urban and rural community settings that aimed at preventing elder abuse and neglect. * To implement and evaluate the effectiveness of the support group programme for informal caregivers that aimed at preventing elder abuse and neglect. The thesis consists of 5 sections: Section A consists of the problem statement, research objectives, central theoretical argument and the theoretical approaches that underpin the study. Furthermore, the research methodology, the definition of key concepts and the limitation of the study are presented. Section B contains four articles that together formed part of the research outcomes. Each article can function independently with it’s own objectives and distinctive content. However, each article is also a sub-project of the umbrella research study. Therefore, some of the data have to be repeated in different sections. The four articles are: Article 1: Informal caregiving, elder abuse and neglect in urban and rural areas of the Khomas region in Namibia: A needs assessment A needs assessment on informal caregiving situations and how it may lead to elder abuse and neglect of older persons from an urban and rural constituency in the Khomas region was explored. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with professional and community leaders. In addition, focus group discussions were held with older persons and informal caregivers in the urban and rural constituency. Article 2: Factors contributing to elder abuse and neglect in community settings In this article, a comprehensive review of the literature pertaining to the risk and protective factors to elder abuse and neglect was done. The ecological theory was worthwhile to describe the risk factors to elder abuse and neglect. Article 3: Designing a social work support group programme with informal caregivers of older people in Namibia A social work support group programme was developed for informal caregivers of older persons in community settings. The eight-week support group programme was developed based on a needs assessment and a comprehensive literature review, and included the following topics; the normal processes of aging, handling of difficult caregiving situations, caregiver stress, self-care of the caregiver, elder abuse and neglect and caregiver grief and loss. The planning model for group work was also utilised to design the group. Article 4: Evaluation of the effectiveness of a support group programme with informal caregivers to prevent elder abuse and neglect An eight-week support group programme with ten female informal caregivers from an urban group and twelve informal caregivers from a rural group setting was implemented and evaluated. Standardized measuring instruments that assessed the outcome of the group at pre-test, post-test and postponed post-test were the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), Potentially Harmful Behaviour (PHB) scale and the Caregiver Abuse Screen (CASE). The Group Engagement Measure (GEM) assessed the group processes at the fourth, sixth and eight group sessions. In addition, open-ended questions were used to collect qualitative data. The quantitative and qualitative evaluations indicated that both the urban and rural groups gained knowledge on aging and caregiving, and caregivers acquired vital qualities such as patience, compassion and communication skills. The process evaluation showed that caregivers from the urban group were more engaged in the group process than the rural group. Elder abuse was underreported in the study, while personal stress of caregivers reduced significantly because of the intervention. Section C consists of the summary of the most important findings and conclusions to the research study. In addition recommendations are provided. Section D consists of the annexures to the research report, such as the measuring instruments and interview schedules used for data collection. Section E contains a consolidated list of references. / PhD (Social Work), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This descriptive study with quantitative aspects examined the phenomenon of elder abuse through the systematic review of 60 cases of elder abuse. Cases were randomly selected from the files of an Adult Protective Services agency in the North Central Texas area. Research questions examined the characteristics of the victims and abusers, types and duration of abuse, descriptions of abusive situations, the reporting and verification of abuse, case management strategies utilized by caseworkers, and the consequences of those strategies. The results of this study point to the probability of the elderly abuse victim being 75 years of age or older, female, white, and widowed. There did appear to be some connection between race and type of abuse with white victims more likely to experience physical and financial abuse. Approximately half of the elderly abuse victims had severe limitations in physical and/or mental functioning leading to some degree of dependence upon their abusers. However, eighty percent of the elderly victims resided in their own homes and half of these individuals were functionally independent. This study provided descriptions of the various types of abuse that were observed: physical, financial, emotional, passive neglect, and active neglect. Financial abuse was noted most frequently, and multiple types of abuse were noted in most cases with the combination of physical, financial, and emotional abuse being observed most frequently. Fifteen different categories of case management strategies were examined, averaging four different assistance strategies per case. Legal services appeared to be the most often refused form of assistance. This study also found no evidence that those who abuse the elderly are being prosecuted.

The rationale for this study was based on the application of the cycle of domestic violence theory to elder abuse. It examined the effect of history of experienced childhood violence on tolerance, behavioral intentions, and past behaviors of elder abuse toward general and specific elderly targets. The effectiveness of educational interventions for altering tolerance and behavioral intentions of elder abuse was examined. Two hundred and twenty-five undergraduates were assessed for aging knowledge, general aging attitudes, aging anxiety, elder abuse attitudes, and elder abuse intentions and past behaviors. Participants were assigned to a High or Low Experienced Violence group and participated in an educational group or control group. Posttest and one-month followup measures were obtained. No differences were found at pretest between High and Low Violence. Level of Violence did not impact intervention efficacy. Elder abuse education altered attitudes, intentions, and behaviors of elder abuse at posttest significantly more than did aging education or control groups (p < .001), but these effects were no longer significant at followup. Elder abuse attitudes had higher relationships with elder abuse intentions and reported past behaviors than did global aging attitudes or aging anxiety (p < .05). General elderly targets yielded more tolerance, intentions, and reported past behaviors of elder abuse than did specific elderly targets (p < .001). Experienced childhood abuse was unrelated to elder abuse expression yielding no support for the role of cycle of violence in elder abuse. Specificity of target mediated elder abuse attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. Primary prevention interventions which aim to reduce tolerance and intentions of elder abuse should include specific information on elder abuse; aging education is ineffective for this goal.

Financial elder abuse is gaining increasing attention from researchers and policy makers. Such abuse can include theft of money as well as misuse of assets such as property. This research applied judgement analysis methodology to explore professional decision making in the context of such abuse and to identify the nature of the cues used to detect and prevent abuse. Participants included social care, health and banking professionals, who were established as key decision makers. In Phase I, semi-structured interviews (n = 63) were conducted. The critical incident technique was used to identify cue use and decisions taken in the most recent case experienced. Key cues for both social care and health professionals included the nature of the 'financial problem suspected', the older persons 'mental capacity' and the 'identifier of the abuse', this being whether the abuse was directly observed or instead reported by a third party. A separate cue used by health professionals was the individual's 'physical capacity'. Banking professionals did not use physical or mental capacity as cues, but independently considered 'who was in charge of the money'. Decisions made by social care professionals included determining whether safeguarding procedures should be implemented. In Phase II, a factorial survey approach was applied whereby social care, health and banking professionals (n=223) were presented with case scenarios incorporating the cues from Phase I in addition to cues from literature review. Multiple regression analysis and incremental F-tests identified the cues that explained a significant amount of the variance in judgements of certainty of abuse and likelihood of taking action. For example, for social care and health professionals this included the older person's mental capacity, and the nature of the financial problem suspected. The findings could be used to develop a training tool to enable other professionals to improve their strategies for detection and prevention of financial elder abuse.

The theme of my work is domestic violence against seniors. This phenomenon represents a serious social problem that deserves our attention. The theoretical part deals the types and specifics of violence. I describe the dynamics of violence, which occurs in such a damaged relationship. I try to describe possible solutions of this problem. In my work is also a list of organizations which can seniors contact. The practical part includes research on public awareness at the age 50+ of elder abuse. Here we can find the myths that appear in society and also hinder victims begin to solve their situation. Each of us may encounter violence. We should be able to identify the problem and knowing where to go for help. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)