NCJ Number
207241
Journal
Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Dated: 2003 Pages: 23-44
Editor(s)
Terry Fulmer Ph.D.
Date Published
2003
Length
22 pages
Annotation
Through interviews, this study attempted to describe and interpret the in-depth meanings ascribed by older battered women who had sustained years of abuse.
Abstract
Violence against women has been recognized as a major social problem; however, research has for the most part targeted the younger and middle-aged woman with the predicament of elderly battered women having only recently been addressed in the literature. Based on in-depth interviews with 20 Jewish battered women in Israel, this study described and analyzed the perceptions and experiences of older battered women in coping with and surviving the intimate violence. The intent of the study was to understand and conceptualize the basic themes underlying older battered women’s experiences as a guideline for future interventions. The interviews were two dimensional. First, examining their awareness of suffering accumulated over years of violence and secondly, their awareness of the limitation of their chronological age. Four major themes were identified from the interviews: (1) an experiencing of self from two opposite poles--heroines and/or fools; (2) a giving up of the self for the sake of family member; (3) children seen as meaningful others; and (4) lost in time between a painful past and a trap-like future. It was concluded from the interviews that elderly battered women shape their self-perception along the dimensions of foolish victim or heroic survivor. References