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Higher Thresholds for Elder Abuse with Age and Rural Residence*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

M.J. Stones  and
Michel Bédard
M.J. Stones*
Affiliation:
Lakehead University
Michel Bédard
Affiliation:
Lakehead University
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to: / Les demandes de tirés-a-part doivent être adressées à : M.J. Stones, Ph.D., Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada P7B 5E1
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Abstract

Attitudes toward elder abuse differ with age, ethnicity, profession, and training. This article introduces a threshold model in order to reconcile findings on attitudinal differences within a unifying theoretical framework. The model assumes that individuals rate the abusiveness using consistent standards but different thresholds. Predictions from the model include consistency among individuals in their ratings of different behaviours (i.e., high relative consistency), but variation in the levels of rating (i.e., systematic departures from absolute consistency).

Samples of 339 seniors and 233 professionals rated 112 items representing a wide range of abuse severity. The findings suggested high relative consistency but systematic deviations from absolute consistency, with higher ratings (i.e., lower thresholds) by professionals than seniors, and by residents of smaller (rural) rather than larger (urban) communities. The implications of the threshold model include prevention through elder-abuse education and reporting practices.

Résumé

Les attitudes vis-à-vis la violence envers les personnes âgées varient avec l'âge, l'ethnie, la profession et la formation. Cet article introduit un modèle de seuil qui tente de réconcilier les résultats découverts dans les différences en matière d'attitudes à l'intérieur d'un cadre théorique uniforme. Le modèle présume que les individus considèrent la violence à l'aide de normes convergentes mais de seuils variés. Les prédictions du modèle comprennent la cohérence parmi les individus lors de leurs considérations de comportements variés (c.-à.-d. cohérence relative élevée) ; il y a, toutefois, une variation aux niveaux du barème de notation (c.-à.-d. un écart systématique par rapport à la cohérence absolue).

Un échantillonnage de 339 personnes âgées et de 233 professionnels révèle 112 items qui représentent une variété de gravité de violence. Les résultats suggèrent une cohérence relative élevée en plus de départs systématiques de la cohérence absolue et des résultats plus élevés (c.-à.-d. des seuils inférieurs) offerts plutôt par les professionnels que les personnes âgées et par les résidents de communautés rurales plutôt que ceux de communautés urbaines. La portée du modèle de seuil comprend la prévention par la sensibilisation de la violence envers les personnes âgées et les méthodes de rapport.

Keywords

agingabuseelderlyageruralattitudesviellissementviolencepersonnes âgéesâgeruralattitudes
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , Winter/Hiver 2002 , pp. 577 - 586
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2002

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Footnotes

*

This research was supported by funding by the Family Violence Prevention Division of Health Canada (FVPD # 4887–01–90–119).

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