Magazine article on Elder Abuse- needs polished.

Assumptions Made About Elder Abuse

Kelly Oldham

Southern New Hampshire University

SOC-317-Sociology of the Family

Prof. McGuire

July 15, 2016

There are various assumptions that are made by people within the society that make them not to pay the much needed attention towards elder abuse. It has been established that stereotyping about the older persons’ declining abilities, as well as, capacities contributes towards paternalistic attitudes towards the elderly. The older adults are usually subject to a wide range of not only negative stereotypes but also assumptions such as the older people are always depressed; are used to live in isolation and are simply waiting for their deaths (Harbison et al., 2012). In addition, there is also the negative stereotyping that the older persons are dependent, chronically ill, and do not make any contribution to the society. In that regard, they are considered as a burden to not only their families, as well as, their loved ones, but also to the society in generally. As a result of such stereotypes the elderly end up suffering due to neglect as there is no one ready to offer them the much needed assistance.

The other assumption that has contributed to the exacerbation of the elder abuse is that people continue to consider it as a family problem that simply involves a few number of stressed caregivers. As a result of the just mentioned assumption, much focus has been directed on individual remedies instead of a social justice response (Harbison et al., 2012). Besides, people have failed to understand that focusing interventions on respite care, stress reduction, as well as, anger management for caregivers mostly does quite little in enhancing victim safety. Lastly, there is the general assumption that elder abuse is not an issue of national concern and much focus is directed on child abuse and partner abuse thus there are limited resources designated towards enhancing the safety of the elderly.

References

Harbison, J., Coughlan, S., Beaulieu, M., Karabanow, J., VanderPlaat, M., Wildeman, S., & Wexler, E. (2012). Understanding “Elder Abuse and Neglect”: A critique of assumptions underpinning responses to the mistreatment and neglect of older people. Journal of elder abuse & neglect, 24(2), 88-103.