Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-9b74x Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-09-03T04:29:53.325Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The social construction of social problems: the case of elder abuse and neglect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2013

Zvi Eisikovits ,
Chaya Koren  and
Tova Band-Winterstein
Zvi Eisikovits
Affiliation:
School of Criminology, Center for the Study of Society, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel
Chaya Koren
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, and Center for the Study of Society, University of Haifa, Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel
Tova Band-Winterstein*
Affiliation:
Department of Gerontology and Center for the Study of Aging in the Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Tova Band-Winterstein, PhD, Lecturer in the Department of Gerontology and Research Associate at the Center for the Study of Aging in the Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel. Phone: +972-4-8342-865. Email: twinters@research.haifa.ac.il.
Get access

Abstract

The interaction and inter-penetrability overlap of abuse and neglect has been previously described. Therefore, the question is not whether a distinction can be made between the two, but how specific events are constructed into abuse and/or neglect based on how each of the protagonists involved (researchers, professional workers, family members, and the older persons themselves) make sense of abuse and neglect. The purpose of this paper is to explore the social and psychological construction of elder abuse and neglect and illustrate the theoretical constructs using case material and its application to the field.

Keywords

elder abuse and neglectsocial constructionsocial workpractical applications

Information

Type
Special Issue Research Articles
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 25 , Issue 8: Elder abuse an international perspective , August 2013 , pp. 1291 - 1298
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Alon, S. (2006). Elder abuse and neglect: whose definition? [Hebrew] Gerontology, 33, 55–69.Google Scholar
Anetzberger, G. J. (2005). Clinical management of elder abuse: general considerations. Clinical Gerontologist, 28, 27–41. doi:10.1300/J018v28n01_02.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anetzberger, G. J., Korbin, J. E. and Austin, C. (1994). Alcoholism and elder abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 9, 184–193. doi:10.1177/088626094009002003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Band-Winterstein, T. (2013). Whose suffering is this? Narratives of adult children and parents in long-term abusive relationships. Journal of Family Violence (in press).Google Scholar
Band-Winterstein, T., Eisikovits, Z. and Lowenstein, A. (2006). Elder abuse and neglect in Israel – A qualitative study (A Research Report). Haifa, Israel: The Center for Research and Study of Aging, University of Haifa and Eshel (in Hebrew).Google Scholar
Beaulaurier, R. L., Seff, L. R. and Newman, F. L. (2010). Barriers to help-seeking for older women who experience intimate partner violence: a descriptive model. Journal of Women and Aging, 20, 231–248. doi:10.1080/08952840801984543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of Meaning. London: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Buchbinder, E. and Winterstein, T. (2003). Like a wounded bird: Older battered women's life experience with intimate violence. Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, 15, 23–44. doi:10.1300/J084v15n02_02.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, O. (2003). The Israeli family. In The International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family (Vol. 2, pp. 960–964). New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Comijs, H. C., Pot, A. M., Smith, J. H., Bouter, L. M. and Jonker, C. (1998). Elder abuse in the community: prevalence and consequences. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 46, 885–888.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cooper, B. (2001). Constructivism in social work: towards a participative practice viability. British Journal of Social Work, 31, 721–738. doi:10.1093/bjsw/31.5.721.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, C., Selwood, A. and Livingston, G. (2008). The prevalence of elder abuse and neglect: a systematic review. Age and Ageing, 37, 151–160. doi:10.1093/ageing/afm194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D'Cruz, H., Gillnham, P. and Melendez, S. (2007). Reflexivity, its meaning and relevance for social work: a critical review of the literature. British Journal of Social Work, 37, 73–90. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcl001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dyer, C. B.et al. (2006). The key elements of elder neglect: a survey of adult protective service workers. Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, 17, 1–10. doi:10.1300/J084v17n04_01.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisikovits, Z., Band-Winterstein, T. and Lowenstein, A. (2005). The national survey on elder abuse and neglect in Israel (A Research Report). Haifa, Israel: The Center for Research and Study of Aging, University of Haifa and Eshel (in Hebrew).Google Scholar
Fisher, B. S., Zink, T. and Regan, S. L. (2011). Abuses against older women: prevalence and health effects. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26, 254–268. doi:10.1177/0886260510362877.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fiske, J. (1990). Introduction to Communication Studies, 2nd edn, Ch. 7. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Fulmer, T.et al. (2005). Dyadic vulnerability and risk profiling for elder neglect. The Gerontologist, 45, 525–534.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gergen, K. J. (1994). Realities and Relationships: Soundings in Social Construction. London: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Gergen, K. J. (2001). Social Construction in Context. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goffman, E. (1961). Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates. Garden City: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Haberkern, K. and Szydlik, M. (2010). State care provision, societal opinion and children's care of older parents in 11 European countries. Ageing & Society, 30, 299–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hareven, T. (1986). Historical changes in the social construction of the life course. Human Development, 29, 171–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harre, R. (1979). Social Being: A theory for Social Psychology. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Johnson, M. P. (1995). Patriarchal terrorism and common couple violence: two forms of violence against women. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 283–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelly, G. A. (1991). The Psychology of Personal Constructs. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kurrle, S. E., Sadler, P. M., Lockwood, K. and Cameron, I. D. (1997). Elder abuse: prevalence, intervention and outcomes in patients referred to four aged care assessment teams. Medical Journal of Australia, 166, 119–122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lavee, Y. and Katz, R. (2003). The family in Israel: between tradition and modernity. Marriage and Family Review, 35, 193–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitzki, N. (2009). Parenting of adult children in an Israeli sample: parents are always parents. Journal of Family Psychology, 23, 226–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowenstein, A., Eisikovits, E., Band-Winterstein, T. and Enosh, G. (2009). Is elder abuse and neglect a social phenomenon? Data from the First National Prevalence Survey in Israel. Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, 21, 253–277. doi:10.1080/08946560902997629.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mishler, E. G. (1986). Research Interviewing: Context and Narrative. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Montminy, L. (2005). Older women's experiences of psychological violence in their marital relationships. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 46, 3–22. doi:10.1300/J083v46n02_02.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muehlbaur, M. and Crane, A. (2006). Elder abuse and neglect. Journal of Psychological Nursing, 44, 43–48.Google Scholar
Nahmiash, D. (2002). Powerlessness and abuse and neglect of older adults. Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, 14, 21–47. doi:10.1300/J084v14n01_02.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Research Council (2003). Elder Mistreatment: Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation in an Aging America. Washington, DC: National Academic Press.Google Scholar
O'Keeffe, M.et al. (2007). UK Study of Abuse and Neglect of Older People: Prevalence Survey Report. London: National Center for Social Research and Kings College, London.Google Scholar
Pike, K. (1954). Language in Relation to a Unified Theory of the Structure of Human Behaviour, Vol. 1. Glendale, CA: Summer Institute of Linguistics.Google Scholar
Pillemer, K. and Finkelhor, D. (1988). The prevalence of elder abuse: a random sample survey. The Gerontologist, 28, 51–57. doi:10.1093/geront/28.1.51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Podnieks, E. (1992). National survey on abuse of the elderly in Canada. Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, 4, 5–58. doi:10.1300/J084v04n01_02.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polanyi, K. (1966). The Tacit Dimension. New York: Double Day & Co.Google Scholar
Rein, M. and White, S. H. (1981). Knowledge for practice. Social Service Review, 55, 1–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Wilson, G. (2002). Dilemmas and ethics: social work practice in the detection and management of abused older women and men. Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect, 14, 79–94. doi:10.1300/J084v14n01_05.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winterstein, T. and Eisikovits, Z. (2005). The experience of loneliness of battered old women. Journal of Women and Aging, 17, 3–20. doi:10.1300/J074v17n04_02.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yan, E. and Tang, C. S.-K. (2001). Prevalence and psychological impact of Chinese elder abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 16, 1158–1174. doi:10.1177/088626001016011004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zink, T., Jacobson, C. J. Jr., Pabst, S., Regan, S. and Fisher, B. S. (2006). A lifetime of intimate partner violence: Coping strategies of older women. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21, 634–651. doi:10.1177/0886260506286878.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zink, T., Regan, S., Jacobson, C. J. Jr. and Pabst, S. (2003). Cohort, period, and aging effects: a qualitative study of older women's reasons for remaining in abusive relationships. Violence Against Women, 9, 1429–1441. doi:10.1177/1077801203259231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar