The rapidly increasing population of elderly people has been accompanied by a number of challenges to the elderly, communities, and the state. The frequency of victimization of the elderly through various crimes has escalated with the criminal justice system facing increasing pressure to curb this trend. Despite all states having legislation that target protecting the adult population from crimes, wide gaps in reporting of crimes against the elderly are evident across the nation. The elderly have increasingly become more vulnerable to physical, financial, and emotional abuse. In many cases, citizens who are aware of these abuses may fail to report to the police or the elderly people themselves may fear engaging in legal battles. Many of the crimes perpetrated against the elderly to a considerable extent reflect the general state of affairs as far as criminal activities are concerned. However, some categories of crimes are more prevalent among the elderly. This paper shall discuss these categories of crimes in light of the manner and forms in which they occur. In addition, the paper shall allude to the existing gaps in reporting and efforts by the criminal justice system, and what needs to be done in order to bridge the gap.
According to the results of a recent study, the elderly people are facing an increasing frequency of abuse including widespread cases of financial exploitation and domestic violence. A salient factor which has been cited as aggravating the situation is the limited social services which the elderly people are receiving. This has been caused by little public interest as well as financial constraints facing the economy. In addition, the issue of crimes against the elderly has not received adequate attention as...
... middle of paper ...
...e elderly to a conclusive end. This alludes to the need to see cases of elder abuse being prosecuted and the offenders facing the appropriate punishment. This would send a message to other offenders out there that any crime against the elderly would be met with full force of the law. Therefore, agencies whose work revolves around law enforcement need to take an active role (Tabachnick, 2009).
At the same time, there needs to be adequate funding towards nationwide campaigns aimed at sensitizing people on the issue of crimes against the elderly and the steps they need to take in order to make the fight successful. With regard to sensitizing the population, the media has to come up and highlight the reality of this problem. The media has the capacity to make this problem attract the attention it deserves (Tabachnick, 2009).
This purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of elder abuse and neglect on victims. This essay will discuss how elder abuse and neglect affect the victims physically, emotionally, and neglect. The use of logos, pathos, and ethos will also be used in the essay. According to Dong, 2017 2 million elders experience elder abuse and neglect each year some twice or more a year, and many cases are not reported. Many confrontations of elder abuse and neglect are done in nursing homes. Some of these cases of abuse are done in these elders homes by family members.
A notable amount of thee victims come from working class and lower economic background and money and the lack there of was a major preceding factor in many cases. Domestic violence is not exclusive to the working class or low income and transcends economic status it I worth note that domestic violence disproportionately affects people of lower economic status. Lacking financial resources is a leading reason why women stay in abusive relationships. A number of cases in the document had heavy relation to finances and abusers controlling the finances in the relationship, even when the perpetrators of abuse were not the
As you can see, I am not elderly and I have not experienced elder abuse personally, but I am a concerned American. The aging
In 1965 the first Aging American’s Act was passed. This legislation was part of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society reform. In passing this legislation nearly 50 years ago, the government created a new department the focused on the rights and needs of the gaining population called the United States Administration on Aging. The original legislation was complete with seven titles. The articles include Title I—the Declaration of Objectives for Older Americans; Title II—Establishment of Administration on aging; Title III—Grants for state and community programs on aging; Title IV—Activities for health and independence, and longevity; Title V—Community service senior opportunities act; Title VI—Grants for Native Americans; and Title VII—allotments for vulnerable elder rights protection activities. Each of these titles are present in the most recent Aging Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2013. Each of the titles in the original and reauthorization have levels of measure to ensure that the legislation is enacted in a manner that will protect the aging population. The titles provide guidance to involved organizations and caregivers ensuring each is properly educated in treating the medical and mental health needs of the aging population as well as recognizing, reporting, and preventing elderly abuse, neglect, and physical, mental, and financial exploitation.
To begin, “Financial abuse towards the elderly is defined as the financial exploitation of seniors because of vulnerabilities related with age”. (Crimes-of-persuasion.com). It is unfortunate that this kind of abuse can be done by someone the elders know and trust – such as, family members, visitors, nurses, social workers, or doctors. From the same website, an explanation is given on how seniors may not report such a crime for a variety of reasons. Some may be either that they are simply unaware of the situation, afraid of revenge by the abuser, or ashamed that they cannot handle the abuse in their own home themselves. It has been proven, by the Mature Market Institute, a research organization, that four out five cases of elder abuse from a financial nature are not reported because of the motives that were previously stated. Is this ...
In recent years, the shameful subject of elder abuse has gained more awareness among community members. In particular, the complexity of elder financial abuse often makes manipulative dealings by fraudsters difficult to identify and separate from actual permissive transactions made by older victims. The result is that these cases are very rarely prosecuted and many other undetected cases continue to fall far below the radar of society. The consequences of financial exploitation of older adults are reaching far beyond the immediate distress of financial depletion. Victims may also experience declines in physical and mental health as well as the risk of a decrease in life expectancy (Kemp & Mosqueda, 2005). The purpose of the following studies is to address the issue of financial exploitation of elder adults through the means of intervention, prosecution, prevention, and correlation between different forms of abuse.
The selection of whether an abused older adult should enter an adult protection agency or a domestic violence program is often dependent on her age and whether or not the abuser is of relation or known to the victim (Kilbane & Spira, 2010). The concept of being known to the perpetrator is similar to US law regarding sexual abuse of a child, whereas, according to Fong and Cardoso (2010) child sexual abuse comes in many forms; however, some forms of child sexual abuse does not qualify a child victim for services provided by the child protection agency. To reap the benefits of the child protective agency, “…the perpetrator of sexual abuse needs to be responsible for the care and custody of the child” (pp. 313). One can argue that there is a moral failure of the legislative body to pass laws that does not provide the needed protections for older woman against perpetrators. The requirement of the perpetrator needing to be known to the older victim appears unjust for the older woman. For example, older women suffer from dementia which renders her forgetful of the individual/caregiver (Reingold, 2006). In this scenario, the perpetrator of the abuse may not be known to the victim ...
Elder abuse is a very sad reality. With an understanding of what the term elder abuse encompasses, who is at risk, what the warning signs are, the statutes that are there to protect the elderly, who is mandated to report the abuse, and how to report the abuse, it is important to minimize the crime. As with all things, the most important way to prevent something from happening is to educate, and elder abuse is no different. If care takers had education about the numerous resources there are, such as support groups and counseling, elder abuse could possibly be decreased exponentially.
Salend, E., Kane, R. A., Satz, M., & Pynoos, J. (1984). Elder abuse reporting: Limitations of statutes. The Gerontologist, 24(1), 61-69.
Many male and female elderly offenders, ages 50 and older, are facing a lot of health problems like Cancer, blindness, mental disorders, heart disease, and aging. For instance, “Prisons in the United States contain an ever growing
Every American should have the right to live free from the fear of abuse. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. The National Center on Elder Abuse Administration on Aging (NCEA) stated, “In the United States, the 2010 Census recorded the greatest number and proportion of people age 65 and older in all of decennial census history: 40.3 million, or 13% of the total population. This “Boomer Generation” effect will continue for decades”. This suggests that with the population of elders increasing, the abuse of elders will grow much higher. Elder abuse if defined as intentionally causing harm to a vulnerable elder by a caregiver or someone they trust. There are five main types of abuse; Physical, sexual, neglect, emotional or psychological
Of nursing home staff interviewed in 2004, nearly 40% admitted to committing at least one psychologically abusive act toward a resident and 10% admitted to physically abusing a resident in the preceding year.[1] Not only are nursing home residents at risk of being abused by their caretakers but they are also at risk of being restrained, which may lead to a form of abuse. With five percent of the elderly population, or one to two million instances of elder abuse occurring yearly there is no doubt that elder abuse deserves serious consideration.[2]
Having elderly in prison does not only affect the prisoner. It also affects the budget for the state. In my opinion, elderly should not be in prison after a specific age. After you have completed a certain time of punishment, you should be released. Hill, Stella and Parker should be individuals who have already completed a valid sentenced and should be considered according to their mental problems and disabilities. Today, many elderly are in prison and have problems taking care of themselves. Meanwhile, the state has to pay extra money for any problem a prisoner might have especially if it’s an
This paper will explore the question of if the elderly imprisoned and in deteriorating health should reside in prison or be released. Should the government continue to house and pay the expenses of keeping the elderly incarcerated, or should they be released if they are simply near the end of their life and are unable to commit any further crimes?
The number of older prisoners is growing rapidly, growth driven by longer sentences and more late-in-life prosecutions for historic sex offences. (Prison Reform, 2015) Due to this more people are growing old in prisons and therefore dying in prisons. The aim of this briefing paper is to discuss whether the needs of older people in prisons are adequately met, to do this health care services and after prison care will be discussing to decide whether these areas adhere to an older prisoner needs. Prison sentencing are continuously getting longer, it is known that average prison sentences are now 4 months longer than 10 years ago at 16.4 months.