ABSTRACT
Financial scams targeting seniors have become so prevalent that they’re now considered “the crime of the 21st century.” Why? Because seniors are thought to have a significant amount of money sitting in their accounts. Financial scams also often go unreported or can be difficult to prosecute, so they’re considered a “low-risk” crime. However, they’re devastating to many older adults and can leave them in a very vulnerable position with little time to recoup their losses. It’s not just wealthy seniors who are targeted. Low-income older adults are also at risk of financial abuse. And it’s not always strangers who perpetrate these crimes. Over 90% of all reported elder abuse is committed by an older person’s own family members, most often their adult children, followed by grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and others.
—NATIONAL COUNCIL ON AGING, “Top 10 Financial Scams Targeting Seniors”This chapter will focus on the abuse of the elderly, primarily by their children, but also by nonrelative caregivers in both the home setting and institutional settings. We will review the research on elder abuse and the laws that deal with elder abuse and provide a conceptual framework for understanding the significance of elder abuse. As will be the case in all chapters, we will not limit our discussion to physical abuse but will include lengthy discussions of psychological abuse—especially of individuals suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s—and, as noted in the epigraph that opens this chapter, financial abuse. <target id="page_104" target-type="page">104</target>Objectives
To identify the changing demographics of the US population, specifically with regards to age
To describe the trends in life expectancy and health in later life
To explore trends in caregiving patterns for the aging
To identify common patterns of the abuse of elderly by their children
To explore patterns of the abuse of elderly by nonrelative caregivers in both home and institutional settings
To illuminate patterns and trends in various types of elder abuse, including physical, psychological, and financial
To examine the ways in which elder abuse is being dealt with by law enforcement and legal and social welfare institutions
To offer some ideas for the prevention of and early intervention in elder abuse
