When left unchecked and unaccounted for, some circumstances can bring out the worst in people. Although capable of the highest acts and virtues, given some tweaks in circumstances, anyone can just as easily swoop down to their primeval instincts of power play and aggression. This turn of events can consequently go downhill and make way for elder abuse to happen.
You can probably imagine why this is a thing. Elders have come to be physiologically and sometimes mentally and psychologically weaker than other people. Their overt reliance and dependence have placed them at the mercy of persons who think that they can do whatever they want without the fear of consequences. If one has an ounce of ethics and virtue, then it does not take some deep thinking to know that this is unethical and heavily culpable. However, this does not seem to influence the trends going the whole world over.
It was the WHO that brought worldwide attention to this actuality. With the specification of senior maltreatment as a societal problem, more organizations, agencies, and partners have stepped up to the challenge. There is now an organization called the INPEA, which is a network of orgs that seek to raise awareness and proffer ways to change the ongoing trend. There is a World Awareness Day designated for this social problem, slated on June 15.
However, one has many nitty gritty to keep in mind. After all, its not uncommon for the senile to make false accusations. That applies to all kinds of infringements. That is why the accused are generally considered innocent until proven guilty, which is just as well. That does not downplay the plight of victims, but that mainly exhorts the need for a thorough investigation of all pending reports.
Aside from that, you have emotional and psychological maltreatment. That comes with humiliating or distressing a person. Perhaps the aggressor may be using an emotional bait to threaten or coerce the elder. Verbal invectives, such as in name calling, ridiculing, yelling, blaming, and some such are considered as part of it. There are more nebulous involvements as well, like if the caretaker somehow ignores, shuns, and withdraws from the elder, causing emotional upheavals and distress.
The boundaries of this phenomenon are quite wide and expansive, even more so than child abuse. After all, the last can be done by just about any person, even though they are not consanguine relatives or caretakers of the child. However, what often characterizes elder maltreatment is that it involves a caretaker or a person in a position of power over the victim. You can appreciate the rife technicalities here, which contributes to the fact of it being hard to root out and solve.
Mostly, the responsible party is a composite of people that the elder knows, and most probably has a relationship with. For example, it may be a spouse or a similar partner, it may be any other family member, friend, and even neighbor and caretaker. Generally, just about any person that the senior relies on for one reason or another. That is why this kind of happening is often subsumed in more general headings like family or domestic violence.
Aside from the many acts and actions that may be considered a part of it, one must also keep in mind the things that are not considered such. For example, general criminal activity, like muggings, burglary, and some such are not considered representative of it. It displays power play, of course, but it can also happen to just about anyone. Therefore, whatever the outcome, the charges are different, and they are not often headed with elderly abuse.
The challenges in this enterprise are uncountable. There are great, many barriers in obtaining the needed statistics. The worse kinds are the abuses that are hidden and committed in privacy. It could also be that the victim himself or herself is unwilling to report and testify. In cases of cognitive decline, like dementia, authorities may be inclined not to take them seriously. The challenges, then again, are great and numerous. However, with societal force, they can be overcome.
You can probably imagine why this is a thing. Elders have come to be physiologically and sometimes mentally and psychologically weaker than other people. Their overt reliance and dependence have placed them at the mercy of persons who think that they can do whatever they want without the fear of consequences. If one has an ounce of ethics and virtue, then it does not take some deep thinking to know that this is unethical and heavily culpable. However, this does not seem to influence the trends going the whole world over.
It was the WHO that brought worldwide attention to this actuality. With the specification of senior maltreatment as a societal problem, more organizations, agencies, and partners have stepped up to the challenge. There is now an organization called the INPEA, which is a network of orgs that seek to raise awareness and proffer ways to change the ongoing trend. There is a World Awareness Day designated for this social problem, slated on June 15.
However, one has many nitty gritty to keep in mind. After all, its not uncommon for the senile to make false accusations. That applies to all kinds of infringements. That is why the accused are generally considered innocent until proven guilty, which is just as well. That does not downplay the plight of victims, but that mainly exhorts the need for a thorough investigation of all pending reports.
Aside from that, you have emotional and psychological maltreatment. That comes with humiliating or distressing a person. Perhaps the aggressor may be using an emotional bait to threaten or coerce the elder. Verbal invectives, such as in name calling, ridiculing, yelling, blaming, and some such are considered as part of it. There are more nebulous involvements as well, like if the caretaker somehow ignores, shuns, and withdraws from the elder, causing emotional upheavals and distress.
The boundaries of this phenomenon are quite wide and expansive, even more so than child abuse. After all, the last can be done by just about any person, even though they are not consanguine relatives or caretakers of the child. However, what often characterizes elder maltreatment is that it involves a caretaker or a person in a position of power over the victim. You can appreciate the rife technicalities here, which contributes to the fact of it being hard to root out and solve.
Mostly, the responsible party is a composite of people that the elder knows, and most probably has a relationship with. For example, it may be a spouse or a similar partner, it may be any other family member, friend, and even neighbor and caretaker. Generally, just about any person that the senior relies on for one reason or another. That is why this kind of happening is often subsumed in more general headings like family or domestic violence.
Aside from the many acts and actions that may be considered a part of it, one must also keep in mind the things that are not considered such. For example, general criminal activity, like muggings, burglary, and some such are not considered representative of it. It displays power play, of course, but it can also happen to just about anyone. Therefore, whatever the outcome, the charges are different, and they are not often headed with elderly abuse.
The challenges in this enterprise are uncountable. There are great, many barriers in obtaining the needed statistics. The worse kinds are the abuses that are hidden and committed in privacy. It could also be that the victim himself or herself is unwilling to report and testify. In cases of cognitive decline, like dementia, authorities may be inclined not to take them seriously. The challenges, then again, are great and numerous. However, with societal force, they can be overcome.
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