ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the need to treat elder abuse problems and the consequences if left untreated and explains the reporting laws involving elder abuse. It describes the power of the state to intervene in elder abuse cases. The chapter aims to distinguish between active and passive abuse and examines the issues in dealing with elder lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender partnership abuse. Adults who are victimized by a form of elderly abuse or neglect are more likely to experience impoverishment, institutionalization, homelessness, involuntary co-housing and have a greater reliance on government benefit programs. According to the National Institute of Justice, elder abuse and neglect is an understudied problem in the United States. More research is necessary to determine the extent and nature of elder abuse, but the central issue is that abuse is likely to be inflicted by the people with whom the elder is living.
