American Indian Elder Abuse: Risk and Protective Factors Among the Oldest Americans

• NCJ Number: 161763
• Journal: Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect Volume: 7 Issue: 1 Dated: (1995) Pages: 17-39
• Author(s): D K Carson
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 23 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper presents an overview of factors that put elderly American Indians at risk for domestic abuse and neglect; protective factors that contribute to family and tribal resiliency are also discussed.

Abstract

It is likely that both risk and protective factors vary greatly across tribal groups and to a degree within groups; people within a particular group are probably not equally "at risk" or "protected." Moreover, the two empirical studies of elder abuse and neglect discussed in this article (Brown, 1989; Maxwell and Maxwell, 1992) support the notion that there are both similarities and differences in risk factors and types of elder mistreatment across reservations. These studies suggest that elder abuse among Navajos and the two Plains Indian tribes investigated was not a common occurrence; the prevalence of elder abuse was apparently much lower than that found among other groups, including Caucasian-Americans and African-Americans; neglect and exploitation were by far the most typical manifestations of elder mistreatment; and there were significant differences between these reservations in terms of the frequency of reported abuse and neglect. Common risk factors on these reservations included economic shortages and a lack of employment opportunities on the reservation, dependency and caregiving issues and responsibilities, mental health and substance abuse problems, and the widening cultural gap between Indian youth and the elderly. Overall, there is no empirical basis for asserting that some risk and protective factors associated with elder abuse and neglect among Indians are more important than others. Future research is needed to determine which factors are more directly involved in increasing or decreasing the likelihood of this phenomenon and to decipher the complex way in which risk and protective factors may contribute to the presence or absence of elder mistreatment. 72 references