Theories Explaining Elderly Abuse

Introduction.

According to the Elderly Health Journal, old age is an essential stage in human development involving many processes, including growth and development, perception, and biological process. It is a life process that is natural. Gholipour & Abbasian,(2020).

Elderly abuse is the misbehavior by the persons entrusted with taking care of the elderly; the abuses include self-neglect Gorbien,& Eisenstein. (2018)., physical abuse, violating their rights, physical and sexual abuse, denial of their rights, and physiological abuse. Abuse is any deliberate move by the caregiver that is likely to cause harm or damage t the life of the older adult.

Theories explaining Elderly abuse include the following: There are several theories explaining elderly abuse. It mainly focuses on the social and cultural context, their relationship with the caregiver, and the description of victims. Gorbien & Eisenstein. (2018).

Situation theory

It explains that caregivers abuse the elderly since the older person's demands become too overwhelming. The caregiver ends up deliberately not meeting the older person's needs, which leads to putting them in danger or causing more harm to their health.

When the caregiver is not satisfied with their job of caring for the elderly, it may include not receiving enough compensation for their task Gholipour & Abbasian,(2020). It creates a situation that ends up abuse. A caregiver who is uneducated on the matter involving taking care of the elderly creates a situation that contributes to elder abuse.

Social exchange theory.

This theory explains that daily social interactions in life create unwritten rules. When relating with the family, the most powerful comes of age with time. If the unwritten rules once created anger and perhaps led to unresolved conflict, this could cause elder abuse by the caregiver. It might increase the risk of abuse among the elderly.

This theory also focuses on violence as a learned behavior inherited from one generation to the other. It states that when children observe violence as a method of relieving stress. They accept the behavior as a normal functioning of society. Therefore, when adults take care of the elderly, their demands increase, and they experience stress the children who are now young adult abuse the elderly. Gholipour & Abbasian,(2020).

Stratification theory

This theory explains the jobs at the bottom of the system have low pay, and therefore they are not desirable. Caregivers' jobs fall at the bottom of the stratified system, and most have low pay and no status. When the caregiver is providing services, the older person due to dementia may not be able to follow all the rules and instructions given, and most times, they resist. This situation may result in the caregiver abusing the elder person considering the low status and nature of their work. It is, therefore, assumed that the low job status of caregivers contributes to the abuse of the elderly.

Role accumulation theory.

Due to the increased work and demands of the elderly, the family abused the elder person in a situation where they cannot cope with the stress. Gholipour & Abbasian,(2020).Either a spouse or adult children who are caring for the older person. The family chooses abuse as a way of managing stress.

Filial crisis theory

Within this theory, poor parenting as the child grows leads to abuse when the child becomes an adult. It blames the mother for poor parenting and not having enough time to bond with his child as the leading cause of abuse. It explains how the mother spends more time in employment and no time to bond with their child, and when they grow old, the child will not be a good caregiver, resulting in abuse Momirov & Ann (2018). The theory, however, does not talk about the father being a bad parent when he is not with the child; this is because fathers provide for the family even if it means being absent.

Symbolic interactions

This theory puts both the abuser and the caregiver on the blame side. It states that the caregiver and the abused older person enter into a relationship, and in the process, they develop behavior that results in solving conflict through violence. Social status, gender, and age are factor the relationship is built on and not the patient and caregiver.

Feminist theory.

It argues that some men abuse women because, in their upbringing, they have been taught to believe that they are powerful and dominant in relationships with women. Society has also emphasized that men are to control women by all means, even if it means using violence. Women live a longer life than men, and men depend on women for care. If the woman got abused when he was with his husband, she may end up contributing to elder abuse as a way to pay back.

Conclusion

The best theory for explaining elderly abuse is the stratification theory. This theory argues that abuse comes from low pay to caregivers. Most caregivers get into this line of work either due to lack of other means of survival. When they start caring for the elderly, the demands keep increasing, and since it's a full-time job, they either grow tired or start experiencing burnout. As a result, they respond to the elderly persons' demands with violence, leading to elder abuse.

The nature of the work lacking prestige also contributes to the caregiver abusing elderly persons. Compared to other theories, the relationship between caregivers and the elderly is pure.

This is the best theory that explains elderly abuse.

Work cited.

● Momirov, Julianne & Ann Duffy. (2018). Family Violence: A Canadian Introduction. (Second Edition). Toronto, ON: James Lorimer & Company, Ltd., Publishers.

Gholipour, F., Khalili, Z., & Abbasian, M. (2020). Definitions and Theories of Elder Abuse. Elderly Health Journal, 6(2), 140-145.

Gorbien, M. J., & Eisenstein, A. R. (2018). Elder abuse and neglect: an overview. Clinics in geriatric medicine, 21(2), 279-292.