Elder Abuse

Elder abuse come in many ugly forms. Abuse forms are compared to one another and labeled with descriptive words that causes different punishments, because society sets the standards of the abuse to how society see it. Should society not see emotional abuse or finical abuse just as wrong as sexual abuse and punish the criminals the same? Just because one action is deemed more severe in society does not mean the abused elder feels the same way. Elder, generally those over 65 that has one kind of impairment that is in need of a caregiver, mistreatment comes in forms such as psychological, finical, physical, sexual abuse and neglect (Anetzberger, 2005). These types of abuse also comes from different types of caregivers. They can be family members, …show more content…
Some of those conditions such as chronic or acute illness can cause mental and physical decline in the health of a person which can place the person in danger of financial problems, social isolation, mental health issues, limited resources, and reach inadequate care (Sommerfeld, Henderson & Snider, Aarons, 2014). With the increasing population of our elderly over the age of 60 roaring to 70 million by 2030 (Sommerfeld,Henderson &Snider, Aarons, 2014); and those over the age of 85 will be seven times higher in 2050, resulting in the fastest growing population (Gorbien and Eisenstein 2005). This data alarms the elder mistreatment advocates as a growing health consideration because with the rising numbers; comes rising numbers of elder abuse cases (Sommerfeld,Henderson &Snider, Aarons, …show more content…
In this study, spouses were the larger group of abusers and their deviant behavior and dependence was the leading characteristics (Gorbien and Eisenstein, 2012). There has been five types of personality profiles that is used to label the criminals: The overwhelmed, the impaired, the narcissistic, the domineering or bullying, and the sadistic; ranging from well intentions but still abuse to worst of care resulting in feeling empowered from the abuse, respectively. These five profile types can be used in clinical settings as well (Gorbien and Eisenstein, 2012). Conflict theory can be used to possibly understand why these types of criminals exert control over their victims. According to the conflict theory, our society is in a constant state of conflict between one another because of material or non-material resources that is available to people but the same resources is not available to other groups of people ( Kendell, 2014). The conflict is between the abuser needing to feel in control over the victim by exerting their power in forms of abuse and impeding the victim’s quality of