Violence Against Elderly People
Violence against seniors unfortunately takes different forms. From lack of care to violence, they all harm the vulnerability of this group of people.
In the past two decades, violence against old people has become one of the main concerns of experts in this field, who have noticed the fact that old people are the most vulnerable age group to different types of aggression in our contemporary society. Given the great extent of this offense, many old people are afraid to get out of their homes or to allow other people to come into their homes, consequently, they spend most of their time locked in.
According to P. Yin, this fear is explained by several issues in our present day world. First of all, mass media is full of news about violence against the elderly. Old people also have an excessive preoccupation with anything that may be considered a threat. They are also afraid of any act of violence, because they feel weak and unable to defend themselves anymore. And last but not least, there are often little chances for them to find any support or means of defense in case of aggression.
Old people can easily become victims of assaults and thievery acts, often accompanied by heavy injuries which can sometimes prove to be fatal. These fears have caused old people in Western countries to move to specialized institutions.
However, one of the most harmful forms of violence which old people have to experience is neglect, abuse or harm from the part of their very own children. According to T. Hickey and R. Douglas, abuses have been classified as follows: 1) passive neglection - which implies old people being neglected by their very own children, without any material or emotional support; 2) verbal or emotional abuse - which means insults, offenses, humiliation, old people being treated as infantile creatures who have no right to human dignity; 3) active neglection-implies the deliberate isolation of old people, the refusal to give them foods or medication, their forced institutionalization, and so on; 4) physical abuse-often implying physical aggression, beating and hitting which can often be very serious and even with fatal consequences.
In most cases, those abusive persons can be even a son or a daughter, with a lot of financial issues, difficulties in their very own relationships, who are often heavy drinkers and who are both morally and legally obliged to take care of their parent/parents. Plenty of studies indicate the fact that the majority of those who abuse their own parents have also been victims of their own parents when they were little (this is a consequence of the beaten child syndrome).
The high costs of their medical treatments or even being taken care of, most often determine extremely violent reactions against old parents. For instance, in a couple who has to take care of parents or parents-in-law, most commonly the wife sees this thing as a "burden", both for the supplementary activities she has to perform, and for perceiving the old people's presence in their own home as a violation of the couple's intimacy.
In other cases, even the old parents can cause the violent reactions and attitude from the part of their children, because they tend to treat their grown-up children as they were still babies, questioning their right to make decisions, showing irritability in various situations, reason for which there usually is a climate of tension and mutual hostility.
Obviously the most tragic form of violence that old people might come across is self-harm, or suicidal tendencies. Unlike young people, old people tend to hide such tendencies, and unfortunately for this reason they are often successful in their suicidal attempts. The reasons for such a gesture may be various. Old people may feel like a burden to others, and feel the need to escape and liberate themselves and the dear ones; also, the lost of their significant other may be a reason for suicide; loneliness, despair, illnesses and weaknesses can become reasons for suicide in the old age category.
The American psychologist Edwin Shneidman states that in suicide cases there are three objectives to be followed in any intervention attempt. The first objective deals with the attempt to reduce the intensity of suffering or of psychological pain. Another objective is to cheer up the potential victim by enlarging his/her restrained point of view when it comes to his/her options. Basically, the potential suicider needs to see other better options in order to give up his/her self-destructive ideas. The concerned person needs a lot of encouragement and support in order to think twice, to re-evaluate this unfortunate decision.
According to P. Yin, this fear is explained by several issues in our present day world. First of all, mass media is full of news about violence against the elderly. Old people also have an excessive preoccupation with anything that may be considered a threat. They are also afraid of any act of violence, because they feel weak and unable to defend themselves anymore. And last but not least, there are often little chances for them to find any support or means of defense in case of aggression.
Old people can easily become victims of assaults and thievery acts, often accompanied by heavy injuries which can sometimes prove to be fatal. These fears have caused old people in Western countries to move to specialized institutions.
However, one of the most harmful forms of violence which old people have to experience is neglect, abuse or harm from the part of their very own children. According to T. Hickey and R. Douglas, abuses have been classified as follows: 1) passive neglection - which implies old people being neglected by their very own children, without any material or emotional support; 2) verbal or emotional abuse - which means insults, offenses, humiliation, old people being treated as infantile creatures who have no right to human dignity; 3) active neglection-implies the deliberate isolation of old people, the refusal to give them foods or medication, their forced institutionalization, and so on; 4) physical abuse-often implying physical aggression, beating and hitting which can often be very serious and even with fatal consequences.
In most cases, those abusive persons can be even a son or a daughter, with a lot of financial issues, difficulties in their very own relationships, who are often heavy drinkers and who are both morally and legally obliged to take care of their parent/parents. Plenty of studies indicate the fact that the majority of those who abuse their own parents have also been victims of their own parents when they were little (this is a consequence of the beaten child syndrome).
The high costs of their medical treatments or even being taken care of, most often determine extremely violent reactions against old parents. For instance, in a couple who has to take care of parents or parents-in-law, most commonly the wife sees this thing as a "burden", both for the supplementary activities she has to perform, and for perceiving the old people's presence in their own home as a violation of the couple's intimacy.
In other cases, even the old parents can cause the violent reactions and attitude from the part of their children, because they tend to treat their grown-up children as they were still babies, questioning their right to make decisions, showing irritability in various situations, reason for which there usually is a climate of tension and mutual hostility.
Obviously the most tragic form of violence that old people might come across is self-harm, or suicidal tendencies. Unlike young people, old people tend to hide such tendencies, and unfortunately for this reason they are often successful in their suicidal attempts. The reasons for such a gesture may be various. Old people may feel like a burden to others, and feel the need to escape and liberate themselves and the dear ones; also, the lost of their significant other may be a reason for suicide; loneliness, despair, illnesses and weaknesses can become reasons for suicide in the old age category.
The American psychologist Edwin Shneidman states that in suicide cases there are three objectives to be followed in any intervention attempt. The first objective deals with the attempt to reduce the intensity of suffering or of psychological pain. Another objective is to cheer up the potential victim by enlarging his/her restrained point of view when it comes to his/her options. Basically, the potential suicider needs to see other better options in order to give up his/her self-destructive ideas. The concerned person needs a lot of encouragement and support in order to think twice, to re-evaluate this unfortunate decision.
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