A Cognitive-Ecological Approach to Elder Abuse in Five Cultures: Human Rights and Education

Abstract

ABSTRACT The population of the world is aging rapidly—a development that the World Health Organization (2004) has labeled as “a demographic revolution.” According to its statistics, there are currently 600 million people in the world over the age of 60, a figure that will double by 2025 and double again by 2050. Within this age group, the numbers of the “oldest old” (people over 80) are increasing the most rapidly. With these dramatic changes, there is an escalating need for education around issues related to aging. Cross-culturally, elders are one of four groups (along with children, women, and individuals with disabilities) found to be consistently vulnerable to family violence (Levesque, 2002). While cross-cultural research on domestic violence and abuse generally has expanded, elder abuse, as a subtype of domestic violence, remains poorly understood cross-culturally. All of the authors in this issue mentioned that a dearth of research on elder abuse within the populations they sampled was a limitation in trying to understand elder abuse within these societies. Their papers, combining qualitative data and quantitative analyses, provide a useful basis for expanding our understanding of cross-cultural aspects of elder abuse. In this concluding paper, we discuss the issues highlighted in the research reported in the papers within this volume. We also comment on how insights from the research might be used to educate the general public, service providers, and human rights workers concerning perspectives on elder abuse and factors that may influence elder maltreatment. The ultimate goal of such understanding is to develop adequate prevention strategies that will address both general and culture-specific risk factors that contribute to elder abuse.