Attitudes about Sanctioning Elder Abuse Offenders among Police Chiefs, Nursing Home Employees, and Students

Abstract

Since the early 1970s, demographers and other social scientists have predicted an increase in the number of elderly people living in America. What has not increased to the same magnitude, however, is our understanding of the criminal victimization of elderly persons or our understanding how to respond to offenders who abuse elderly persons. Of concern in this research was the way that four groups perceive the sanctioning of offenses committed against elderly persons: police chiefs, nursing home administrators, nursing home staff, and students enrolled in sociology and criminal justice courses. By conceptualizing the perceptions of abuse among these four groups, steps can be taken toward either preventing or responding to crimes against elderly persons.In the mid-1970s the concept of "granny-bashing" began to appear in British medical journals and described instances where older citizens were abused by family members, caregivers, health care employees, and a host of other individuals (Baker, 1975;Ogg & Munn-Giddings, 1993). At the same time, predictions were made that the number of elderly citizens living in the United States would increase gradually throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Since then, two things have occurred. First, we have seen increases in longevity and the number of people ages 65 or older. Second, we have witnessed the evolution of the granny-bashing concept into other concepts viewed as more politically correct. These new concepts included battered parent, elder maltreatment, and elder abuse (Crystal, 1987;Katz, 1979;Pillemer, 1986). Although these new concepts have been forthcoming, research into the way elder abuse cases are handled in the legal system is relatively scarce in the literature.

Treatment and Prevention of Elder Abuse and Neglect: Where Knowledge and Practice Meet—A Model for Intervention to Prevent and Treat Elder Abuse in Israel

“…Training initiatives for professionals were developed and implemented. In general, an integrated continuum of care is available for victims, abusers, and other family members involved (Doron, Alon, & Offir, 2004;Anetzberger, 2005;Payne, Berg, & Flanagan James, 2001). Nerenberg (2006Nerenberg ( , 2008 discussed several paradigms used to address elder abuse.…”

Prosecutors’ Perspectives on Elder Justice Using an Elder Abuse Forensic Center

“…In a study of perceptions of different elder abuse scenarios, Payne, Berg, and James (2001) found that police chiefs, nursing home workers, and students ranked the scenarios very differently in terms of their seriousness and how best to intervene. Their findings suggest that occupational experiences and organizational cultures influence workers’ values, behaviors, and beliefs toward elder abuse.…”

“…Barriers include a lack of awareness of elder abuse and few resources to investigate complex financial crimes (Connolly, 2010; Miller & Johnson, 2003). In a survey of attitudes towards elder mistreatment, only 16 % of law enforcement officers stated that they received enough training in elder abuse (Payne & Berg, 1999), yet with the increased criminalization of elder mistreatment, law enforcement and criminal justice workers are expected to take a greater role in helping prevent and intervene in abuse allegations (Payne, Berg, & Toussaint, 2001). …”

Elder Abuse: Factors Related to Perceptions of Severity and Likelihood of Reporting

“…Psychological or emotional abuse has been described as those actions that cause fear, isolation, confusion or disorientation with the intent to cause emotional pain (NCEA, 1998). Physical abuse is defined as acts of violence that cause pain, injury, impairment, or disease to an elder and includes such behaviors as hitting, slapping, and kicking; it is generally the most easily identified type of abuse (NCEA, 2007;Payne, Berg, & James, 2001;Stones & Bedard, 2002). Other forms of abuse include exploitation, which is the misuse of an older person's money for personal gain and violation of an elder's civil or legal rights.…”

“…In another study, Mills and colleagues found that college students who were presented with six scenarios depicting different types of abuse (e.g., physical, financial, neglect) gave the highest abuse ratings to the physical abuse scenario (Mills, Vermette, & MalleyMorrison, 1998). Consequently, it appears that in cases when maltreatment is more directly personal, such as instances of blatant physical abuse, the more easily detected and more abusive the behavior is believed to be (Payne et al, 2001). However, this is at odds with the kinds of reports that family members are likely to make to Adult Protective Services.…”