Older Women's Descriptions and Understandings of Their Abusers

• NCJ Number: 215523
• Journal: Violence Against Women: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal Volume: 12 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2006 Pages: 851-865
• Author(s): Therese Zink; C. Jeffrey Jacobson; Saundra Regan; Bonnie Fisher; Stephanie Pabst
• Date Published: September 2006
• Length: 15 pages
• Grant Number(s): R605H23525
• Sponsoring Agency: Ohio Attorney General's Office
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study explored the abuse experiences, ways of coping, and health care experiences of 38 women aged 55 years or older who lived in abusive relationships.

Abstract

The analysis focused on the types of abusive behaviors engaged in by elderly perpetrators and the female victims’ characterizations of their abusive partners. Abusers’ behaviors included threats with weapons, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and psychological abuse. The majority of women reported that both physical abuse and sexual abuse were persistent early in the relationship but waned with age. The sexual abuse, which most commonly included manhandling and marital rape, took on a more psychological character as the sexual components waned. Types of psychological abuse that occurred throughout the relationships included controlling social activities and finances. Main themes that emerged when the women tried to explain their partners’ abuse included personal accounts of aging, stereotyping and pathologizing the behaviors, and accounts about the personal versus private nature of their behaviors. Some women focused on the abuser’s anger, others labeled their husbands narcissistic and selfish, and others discussed their husbands as women haters or homosexuals. Thirty-eight women who were currently or had been in an abusive relationship since the age of 55 years were recruited using flyers and word of mouth at domestic violence and aging services agencies and using advertisements in neighborhood newspapers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted that focused on demographic information, the nature and frequency of abuse, the pattern of abuse over time, and explanations for remaining in the relationship. Data were coded and analyzed for themes and basic statistical information was generated. Future studies should identify the risk and protective factors for abuse among elderly women so that the impact of violence on elderly victim’s health and well-being can be minimized. Tables, appendix, references