A correct understanding of the dynamics and mechanisms that make it possible for a woman to become a victim of intra-family violence allows the necessary measures to be taken so that she can escape from the situation of victimization. Emilio C. Viano, President of the International Society of Criminology, defines the victim of an abuse as “any subject injured or that has suffered wrongdoing on the part of others, who perceives herself to be a victim, who shares the experience with others looking for help, assistance and compensation, who is recognized as a victim and who presumably is being helped by public, private or collective agencies/structures”. Before the birth of Anti-Violence Centers it was believed that the awareness of being a victim was the necessary condition for a woman to ask for help. Experience has shown that, in reality, it is the request for help that allows her to begin a process of awareness together with the operators in the Anti-Violence Centers. This reflection has led to the creation of a theoretical model called “The Circular Model of Victimization”. The aim of the research, and which is presented here, was to verify whether the Italian Anti-Violence Centers recognize the Circular Model in the daily operational reality, and thus to ascertain whether this model can be considered a real empirical model, as well as a theoretical explanatory model. In conclusion, the revisited Circular Model of Victimization will be presented, in which it is assumed that the way out of the circuit of violence passes from a first moment of perception of victimization to arrive at a real awareness of the same.

The aim of this paper was (1) to document the extent to which elderly caregivers of persons with dementia engage in self-help/mutual aid activities such as groups and telephone support and (2) to document the extent to which non-users want to participate in this form of support. Caregivers aged 60 years of age and older were recruited from the Alzheimer's Society of Metropolitan Toronto Wandering Persons Registry. Data from telephone interviews (n = 84) from this multicultural sample showed that 21 per cent of subjects used support groups and 26 per cent of non attenders wanted to be part of a support group. Only 8 per cent of subjects utilized telephone support services yet 57 per cent of non-users wanted to use this service. We also report on other means of support such as use of computer networks and newsletters. The implications of this research for seniors will be discussed in light of these identified needs and barriers to participation.

Attempts to explore the mix between the provision of support by informal and formal sources typically involve evaluations of a single sample of seniors. This study examined the sources of support (i.e. informal, formal, mixed) for instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) received by seniors at two points in time, approximately 12 years apart. Sources of support were compared to consider whether those used by men and women in 1983 (n = 1479), were similar to those used by their counterparts more than a decade earlier (n = 2512). For women, the proportions receiving assistance from various sources were identical in 1983 and 1971. For men, they were not. Among seniors receiving some IADL assistance, the probability of receiving it from primarily informal sources in 1983, relative to 1971 was significantly lower for men than for women. Moreover, the probability of receiving support from primarily formal sources in 1983, relative to 1971 was significantly higher for men. These findings might imply that, for men, but not for women, the receipt of support has moved toward primarily formal sources and away from primarily informal sources. Several potential explanations for these findings are explored.

This paper reviews the different concepts and measures of positive aspects of caregiving that have been used in previous studies. It describes the use of a simple measure of “enjoyable aspects of caregiving” used in a large longitudinal Canadian study of dementia care in the community. The measure attained significant test-retest reliability and significantly correlated with caregiver burden and health. It also predicted caregiver desire to institutionalize the care recipient at three different time periods but not actual institutionalization. The paper calls for greater use of measures related to positive aspects of caregiving and a better understanding of how these measures relate to one another and to outcomes.

This research evaluates a mediational model of work-family conflict among employees with caregiving responsibilities for older relatives. In a survey of employees from eight organizations, 396 women and 316 men completed measures assessing their eldercare involvement, the extent to which their family responsibilities interfered with work (FIW), the extent to which their work interfered with family (WIF), job satisfaction, job costs (e.g., missed meetings), and absenteeism. Eldercare involvement was significantly associated with FIW for women but not for men. Among women, FIW was related to job dissatisfaction and absenteeism; among men, it was related to job costs and absenteeism. WIF was unrelated to eldercare, but was associated with FIW and job costs for both women and men. It also was associated with job satisfaction for men. The findings of the current study suggest that eldercare responsibilities impact on the workplace indirectly by arousing conflict between family and work.

This paper describes patterns of caring for people aged 65 or over with dementia in Canada, and the relationship this has with the well-being of caregivers. Data were drawn from a representative sample of elderly people, selected from the community and from institutions in the ten provinces of Canada as part of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA). Interviews were held with the caregivers of people diagnosed with dementia, and with a comparison group of caregivers for non-demented persons. About half of all people with dementia in Canada are living in the community, and our results show that over 98 per cent of them have a caregiver. The caregivers in 94 per cent of these cases are unpaid family members, relatives or friends: the spouse in 37 per cent of cases and a daughter in 29 per cent. Caregivers rarely use community support services. Among those caring for someone in the community, those caring for a person with dementia are more likely to experience chronic health problems and depressive symptoms than are those caring for a non-demented elderly person. Those caring for a person in the community are much more likely to feel burdened than those whose loved one is in an institution, even though those who are institutionalized are more likely to suffer from severe dementia. These national figures support many of the findings reported from smaller, localized studies. The findings suggest that long-term care institutions are serving a role for Canada's seniors, particularly for the most demented, and that caregivers often provide care for loved ones even when suffering from chronic health conditions, depression, and burden themselves.

This article examines the process which allows caregivers to combine employment and eldercare. Using an interactionist approach, the authors present the factors which determine this process, based on a qualitative study with 25 caregivers. The article proposes that the effects of eldercare on employment are the result of the degree to which caregivers manage to maintain balance between different life spheres: personal and social life, family life, caregiving and employment. This balance is achieved by a complex process of co-ordination, negotiation, and mediation which the authors call “juggling work” and which itself is determined by a series of factors, conditions and contextual elements.

This study advances the understanding of family caregiving by examining the relationship between adult children caregivers and their helpers. Specifically, it focuses on examining “who helps whom” and extends analyses beyond the dyadic focus of caregiving in later life. The focus on helping and caregiving addresses the variety of contributions and responsibilities involving not only the caregiver who was the target respondent in this research, but also others identified as helpers in the provision of care.

The data for this study are derived from the Work and Eldercare Research group of CARNET: The Canadian Aging Research Network. Secondary analysis of CARNET data focuses on data collected from 250 individuals with significant caregiving responsibilities for at least one older person. Findings extend Kahn & Antonucci's convoys of social support model (1981) and Cantor's model of social care (1991) by disentangling some of the dimensions of helping and caregiving, such as the distinction between direct and assistive help.