Victim and Offender Correlates of Elder Abuse and Mistreatment: Research for Future Prevention

Elder abuse is a crime that is often misunderstood, under detected, and improperly processed. While definitions of this abuse are clear within most states, the knowledge that most elder abuse occurs at the hands of those the victim most trusts–their friends and family–is seldom understood by the public. Further, many professionals lack the training to effectively assess and detect elder abuse. Most underlying indicators of such abuse have specific correlates based on both victim and offender characteristics. Persons in various human service professions must be trained on those characteristics and the dynamics that tend to enable an abusive relationship to occur. Effective means of assessing elder abuse are presented as well as arguments for improved training among human service professionals.