Elderly abuse is the emotional, sexual or physical harm on an older adult, neglection, and financial exploitation by a person or people who should be taking care of them (Frieze et al., 2020). As they get older, they get weaker physically and mentally, and they can hardly speak out or fight for their rights. Their weakness presents an opportunity for their guardians to take advantage of them. They can be their children, family members, or in elderly home institutions. The paper presents a case study of an elderly woman who gets abused in the home of her daughter.
Elderly Women's Perspective
The elderly woman gives away all her life savings, money from the sale of her home, and insurance of her dead husband to her daughter living with her husband. She moves in with her daughter and their husband, who are facing financial difficulty as they lost their jobs. She gets abused as she does not receive medical treatment as normal because she is suffering from arthritis and hypertension.
Her new guardians do not purchase the necessary medicine she needs after moving in with them. She is confined to her room, and she is threatened to hand over the money she has to her daughter's husband on demand. She gives in as she has nowhere to go, and she is threatened that she faces being thrown out. The elderly woman gets depressed, and she loses weight and experiences confusion. She collapses in the emergency room at a local hospital, forcing the social workers to report her condition to the authorities.
The elderly woman is at risk of being mentally and physically ill because of the abuse she is receiving (Pillemer et al., 2016). She gets financial abuse and receives threats from her daughter's husband, which pushes her to depression, which is a mental disorder. She is widowed; therefore, she is more susceptible to losing her property. The elderly woman is coerced into moving in with her daughter and her husband after selling off her property and her late husband's life insurance.
As she becomes financially dependent on the couple, she is at a higher risk of abuse, and she is locked up in her room without proper medical and physical attention (Pillemer et al., 2016). It leads to an unfortunate family relationship, and she falls into depression and loses weight as a result. She is a burden to the family who cares less about taking care of her as they are worried about their financial situation. She is unable to get help from the community as she is locked up.
The elderly woman has no one else to confide in; therefore, she places all her burdens on herself, and it is another factor that leads her to depression. It is because she feels dependent and weak to defend herself, even in her daughter's home, who does not seem to care much until the situation is reported to law enforcement officers. Also, the combination of underlying medical conditions and the problem is another factor that leads to her state of depression.
Psychosocial Theories
Psychological theories discuss the mental changes that occur when an individual gets older. An individual seeks to adapt to the changing physical condition psychologically. The elderly woman in the case study is coerced into moving in with her daughter and husband as she has no one to take care of her, and it can be explained using psychological theories of classic aging pattern and the positivity effect.
Classic age pattern shows that as individuals age, their intelligence and abstract reasoning decreases (Wernher & Lipsky, 2015). Although their cognition processes remain stable, their knowledge decreases. It means that an aging person cannot reason as much as before, as their fluid intelligence is falling. It means that an aging person processes information slower than before.
The older woman in the case study does not have the grit to reason her daughter wants to move in with her. She does not think of the consequences as she sells off her house and gives away her husband's life insurance money. The older adult does not think of her independence as she feels safe around her daughter, but the worst happens to her. She has nowhere else to go to, therefore forcing her to tolerate mistreatment from her daughter's husband.
Positivity effect theory shows how the elderly like positive information, and it makes them feel good (Wernher & Lipsky, 2015). The older woman is coerced by her daughter and husband to move in with them, and she gets all the positive information that she desires from them. She is okay with the prospect of living with her daughter, and she sells off her house, and little did she know that she was in for trouble. Before, the older adult thinks that she is going to receive all the attention, and it is positive news for her, and according to the positivity effect theory, older adults like positive news. As a result, coercion works, and after she moves in, she falls into a trap, forcing her to tolerate her daughter's husband as she is too weak to defend herself.
Age-Related Changes in Health Status
The older woman in the case study has underlying medical conditions is arthritis and hypertension. She is widowed, and she has no one to take care of her as she gets weaker with age, and she is widowed. Cognitive mental changes occur as an elderly person gets weaker in problem-solving, thought, language, intelligence, memory, and perception (Bornstein, 2019). It means that an aging person does not reason as much as before, and it applies to the elderly woman in the case study. She quickly falls for the words of her daughter and her son-in-law to move in with them.
Cognitive mental changes mean that an aging person processes information slower and less in-depth like before. The elderly woman does not think of the consequences of her decisions like about her independence as she blindly decides to move in with her daughter's family. The elderly woman is also physically weak; therefore, she cannot defend herself in those moments when she is abused and threatened (Bornstein, 2019). As one ages, they can no longer have a physical presence like before.
The elderly woman cannot confront her son-in-law as she cannot physically impose herself, and to make it worse, she is confined to her room. It is usual for the aging to lose physical power, and in the case study, the elderly woman is forced to keep her issues to herself as she does not have the physicality to protect herself from abuse. She ends up in depression and loses weight as she is forced to make a decision not to speak up.
Intergenerational Dynamics in The Family
A family's structure can be both complex or straight-forward. Family generations are attributed to the condition of the lineages, with names such as child, parent, or grandparent. There exist gaps in family generations, and it can either be condensed or gapped (Roberto, 2016). The differences are as a result of childbearing.
Early childbearing creates a condensed generation, while late childbearing creates considerable gaps in generations. With more generations in a family, there is more association between the members. Significant differences in generations reduce the chances of the generations co-existing together. Some factors that increase the complexity of generations include single-parenting, remarriages, and divorce. They cause blurred responsibilities in the family roles and will most likely distort the family structure.
The family in the case study faces a need to take care of the elderly woman in the same household because of their problem, but it is also a responsibility to them. The family exhibits a gapped generation, meaning that there is a low association between family members of the family (Roberto, 2016). It is evident as the kids in the family do not associate much with their grandmother, and they are seemingly unaware of her situation until it is reported to law enforcement, and they feel the consequences. Taking care of the older woman presents a crisis to the family, especially with their financial problems. It, therefore, forces the son-in-law to bully the older woman into parting ways with her money. The need for attention to the older woman is not welcome in the family, and she ends up facing medical neglect leading her to depression.
Ethical and Legal Issues in Elder Abuse
Elder abuse is a complex problem as it requires professionals from law enforcement and health do deal with it. The key ethical and legal issues in elder abuse include reporting to law enforcement, self-determination, and restriction means (Yon et al., 2017). It is a legal duty for social workers and the community to report cases of elder abuse. However, it is an ethical issue as the elderly retain the right to decide on whether they want intervention or they are okay with the situation (Yon et al., 2017). Reporting the situation might place them in more risk of elder abuse than their condition at the moment. Elder abusers are good at coercion like the son-in-law in the case study. It raises an ethical issue as professionals may have to make the decisions for the elderly because of their cognitive changes. Restriction means it is a moral issue as an older adult can choose to stay at the hands of the abusers, yet they can be taken care of in elderly homes.
Approach to Working with The Family Unit
I would work with the family unit to ensure that the elderly woman stays away from her son-in-law. The elderly woman needs peace, attention, and care to maintain her health. I would collaborate with medical professionals to determine the condition of her mental and physical health. I would want them to give her a therapy routine to help alleviate her psychological and physical troubles. I would work with her daughter to ensure that she advocates for her mother, and advise her to explain to her children the situation to protect their mental well-being.
Conclusion
Elder abuse is ill in society and should not be happening at this age. The elderly people deserve the best care as they have lived long; elder abusers should be convicted by law enforcement appropriately as they cause damage to family and the elderly.
