Elder Abuse Among African Americans

Abstract

ABSTRACT Perceptions of extreme, moderate, and mild forms of elder abuse among African-American women (n = 25) and men (n = 10) were examined. African-American respondents emphasized physical abuse when giving examples of extremely abusive behavior. Along with physical abuse, verbal abuse was the most frequently identified form of abuse, and was significantly related to age in complex ways: the older the respondents, the more examples they provided of verbal abuse as an extreme form of mistreatment; while the younger the respondents, the more examples they gave of verbal abuse as a mild form of mistreatment. Examples of neglect and abandonment were listed most frequently as forms of extreme abuse, and were listed significantly more frequently by females than by males. Findings have relevance for prevention and intervention efforts, indicating the types of elder maltreatment that appear to be most salient to the African-American community.