This research presents risk factors for abuse and neglect among older adults who accessed health and social service organizations in London, Ontario, 1991. The paper reviews four theoretical perspectives on elder abuse and neglect: the situational model, social exchange theory, symbolic interactionism and a feminist model. Risk factors for physical abuse, chronic verbal abuse, material abuse and neglect were identified for each theoretical model. Each set of risk factors was regressed on each type of abuse in order to determine the efficacy of the theoretical models. The data suggest that the risk factors associated with the situational and feminist model(s) provide the best fit in terms of physical abuse; the symbolic interaction model explains the most variance in chronic verbal abuse; both the symbolic interaction and feminist models explain about the same amount of variance in neglect; and none of the theoretical models adequately explains the variance in material abuse.

This study explored the validity of the Caregiver Abuse Screen (CASE) as a brief measure of abuse/neglect of seniors. A group of abusive caregivers from the community was compared with two contrasting groups of non-abusive caregivers. The CASE distinguished between the abusive and each non-abusive group, while the non-abusive groups did not differ from each other. Higher CASE scores coincided with higher scores on abuse/aggression measures from independent sources; with caregiver personality traits; with appraisals of poorer caregiver/care-receiver relationships and more care-receiver problem behaviours, poorer caregiver health, more caregiver depression and less social support. Findings were interpreted as supporting the CASE's validity as an initial abuse screen for use with caregivers.

This research examined individual differences in attitudes about elder abuse and other concerns in contemporary social morality. Study 1 was part of a larger investigation intended to identify examples of elder abuse through a survey of 572 seniors and practioners. Using a series of construct validation filters, a unifactorial Elder Abuse Attitude Test (EAAT) was developed that measures individual differences in evaluating examples of elder abuse. The EAAT contains 13 items and had an internal consistency exceeding 9. Study 2 included the EAAT in a survey of attitudes about wider social issues. Data on the EAAT, 31 survey items, and indexes of extremity and agreement set were analysed for 257 respondents. Zero-order and factor analysis showed relationships of the EAAT with extremity set and items stating that society should provide fiscal and other resources towards the prevention and remediation of child, spousal, and elder abuse. Attitude extremity was uncorrelated with four other attitude factors. We conclude that people more prone to attitude extremity have stronger convictions about the responsibility of society to attenuate abusive situations.

A review of gerontological literature on elder abuse and feminist literature on wife assault points to the conceptual and practice divisions that have separated attention to age and gender and, thus, obscured older women's experiences of abuse by their male partners. The first person account of a woman who left her abusive husband in her 70s and the supporting observations of a group of concerned service providers are introduced to bridge these conceptual divisions and to call attention to the social processes that hide and perpetuate wife assault in old age. With a view to developing methodologies and practices that make visible and challenge the conditions that sustain abuse of older women, directions for future approaches to research and service are considered.

The recent introduction of new adult guardianship legislation in British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories signals the arrival of the third wave of guardianship law reform in Canada since the mid 1970s. The first wave appeared in Alberta in the form of the Dependent Adults Act which was replicated, in part, in Saskatchewan. The second wave affected only the Atlantic provinces and consisted of new adult protection legislation aimed primarily (but not solely) at cases of elder abuse or neglect. The third wave of reform involves, amongst other things, the enactment of omnibus adult guardianship statutes that include adult protection provisions. Some potential problems are examined including an untenable fusion of guardianship and protection procedures; an excessive reliance upon potentially expensive and fiscally vulnerable advocacy services; and an increase in abuse and neglect as a result of the removal of various “paternalistic” safeguards.

Elder abuse is a social phenomenon which has recently been brought to light. As such it has brought about different legal responses in the Canadian provinces. The Atlantic provinces have all enacted Adult protection legislation modelled on child protection legislation. The author has undertaken a study of New Brunswick legislation in order to evaluate which factors are most important when judges order protective measures. Different materials have been analysed such as New Brunswick court files from 1983 to 1989, cases which have never gone to court collected by nurses and social workers, interviews with social workers, and the normal practice of New Brunswick judges and crown prosecutors. From those data, it was found that two different factors play an important role in the administration of Adult protection legislation. First, the legal representation of the elderly person is the most significant factor influencing the outcome of the case. The other important factor is the legal philosophy espoused by the relevant judges. Judges adopting a liberal philosophy are more critical of that legislation as compared with judges who accept the social intervention philosophy which forms the basis of this legislation.

A survey on abuse of the elderly was mailed to 174 Canadian and American professionals who were identified as persons likely to be involved with cases of elder abuse. Neglect was the most commonly reported type of abuse, followed by financial and psychological abuse. Physical abuse constituted the smallest number of cases. While various family relationships were reported, middle-aged sons were the most common abusers, while older mothers were most frequently the victim. Regardless of the legislative approach taken, laws were reported to be generally effective. Greatest concerns were expressed regarding the lack of funds to administer and provide services to abused seniors.

In “Mauvais traitements des personnes âgees: Statégies de changement” are contained the analyses and reflections of 27 different authors. They address four separate areas of the issue: practice, policies, education and research. The authors went about writing this book with the intention of assessing what is known to date, indicating how the situation appears to have evolved and providing certain recommendations in the hope of putting an end to this complex, disturbing problem. Very recent works which, for the most part, were written by the same authors are described in this book. However, few studies which have been conducted on a regional or local level, or even in a university milieu, have been mentioned. Despite the quality of this work, once again there is a noticeable lack of precise terminology used in reference to mistreatment. Nevertheless, this document does paint an excellent picture of the issue and presents recommendations which can be extremely useful in developing policies, protocol and programs aimed at the prevention of mistreatment with regard to seniors, either in a family or institutional environment.