In the mid-1960s the federal government passed, along with other civil rights legislation, the Older Americans Act of 1965, 42 U.S.C. 3001 et seq., specifically addressing the older American. Historically, this statute is central in the context of elder law being that it was the first to establish prohibitions against abuse and neglect of the elderly, among other protections. Since then, elder abuse laws have expanded both on the federal and state levels as seen with the 1987 Older Americans Act Amendments and similar state adopted laws that mirror its provisions.
While the Older Americans Act does not provide an all-encompassing definition of an elder, it sets guidelines for determining elder abuse which is ultimately determined based on the particular facts and circumstances of a given situation. Notwithstanding, Americans aged 65 or older have come to fall within the "elder-demographic." As such, according to a report of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Aging, five percent of all Americans of this aged population are victims of elder abuse. Unfortunately, the same source estimates only 12 percent of all elder abuse activities are actually reported.
These numbers suggest that elder abuse has become an endemic problem in the United States affecting a staggering one-third of all older Americans who belong to a notably growing class of citizens. Abuse takes many forms, but the ultimate result is harm - physical, psychological, emotional, or legal - to the elder person. Often, the victim may have been abused by close family, friends, or their caregiver; however, there are also instances of self-abuse. In short, one need only infringe on the rights of an elder person, or willfully and/or neglectfully cause physical, financial, or psychological harm for it to be considered abuse. Therefore, the manner and types of elder abuse that exist form a broad spectrum of varying degrees.
Very serious among the abuses of the elderly are domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and dating violence, all of which may include physical and/or psychological elements, possibly even exploitative ones. Consequently, the most common causes of elder abuse in general are:
1. The abuser has an innate pathological need to harm others, particularly elders.
2. The caregiver breaks down under the stress of caring for the elder person resulting in abuse, often occurring with Alzheimer's patients, and usually when there is only one caregiver who is without sufficient relief or respite.
3. The caregiver seeks revenge that is frequently due to a role-reversal subsequent to the caregiver having once been a victim of past abuse.
4. The caregiver may be a substance abuser which influences his/her abusive activity.
5. The caregiver is isolated or feels unappreciated and manifests his/her frustration by abusing the elder person.
6. The caregiver could be under the financial control of the older person causing anger and/or resentment directly or indirectly leading to abuse.
7. Institutional caregivers that lack resources and/or personnel necessary to provide adequate care that results in negligence or neglect.
The causes are many, and this list is not all-inclusive: socioeconomics, race, culture, and other emotional factors are also known to have - in some cases- a causal connection to abuse.
The legislative response to elder abuse has made some important progress in abating this national problem; for example, the Older Americans Act Amendments require state agencies on aging to determine and establish protective needs and protective services to assist the elderly. Yet, the state response to the problem has been limited.
One proposal is to mobilize a greater grass-roots effort to convince the states to enact appropriate legislation as well as to allocate greater resources to elder protection with an emphasis on more training of law enforcement and protective services personnel. Given the insufficiency of resources across the country, though, many experts recommend a combination of government based, private, and charitable efforts in a joint-alliance to stem what is one of the most significant problems affecting our elderly.
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