trash

e able to describe Sutherland’s conceptualization of white-collar crime \n Who can commit a white-collar crime? \n Why was Sutherland’s conceptualization controversial at the time?

-elder contradiction (valuable nest eggs, but eldercare is expensive and time consuming)

How many people in the U.S. are over the age of 65?

60 million; 15% of the population

However, elderly population is on the rise (expected 25% by 2050)

Which state has the highest percentage of its population over age 65?

Florida (5.3 million or 26%)

Florida is the \_________ largest economic sector

second

Legal definitions of elder abuse typically include

-INTENTIONAL infliction of psychological or physical injury

-a caregiver's FAILURE TO MAKE A REASONABLE EFFORT to protect elderly from abuse, neglect, or exploitation

Disability Act

under it disabled adults are a protected class

How many adults in the U.S. have at least one disability?

1/4 (most common is cognitive)

What portion of those over 65 have some sort of disability?

40% (most common is ambulatory- mobility)

Elder abuse perpetrators

Most commonly children followed by spouses. Focus on external providers is misleading.

Forms of elder abuse (most to least common)

-neglect

-physical

-financial

-emotional

-sexual

What makes children more likely to abuse elderly parents?

if they were maltreated in childhood

Violence from Spouses

Men are more likely to suffer fatal and nonfatal physical abuses because female partner is often the primary caregiver (cycle of violence)

Kendra Edward of Memphis, Tennessee

charged with felony count of criminal attempt-willful abuse and domestic assault-bodily harm after punching her 74 year old grandmother in the face and beat her head with a hair brush after the grandmother commented on how she disciplined her 4yo child

Damages from elder physical abuse are

significantly more likely to be permanent and require surgery

"Death with Dignity Act"

Oregon is the first state to have this.

allows terminally ill individuals to end their lives through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications, expressly prescribed by a physician for that purpose.

Neglect

Most common form of elder abuse.

-many elderly people live alone and are subject to self-neglect

-Caregivers can be charged with neglect even when the elderly person does it to themselves (they must make good faith effort)

APS

Adult Protective Services

-can force involuntary care if case of self-neglect is severe enough

Sexual abuse in elder abuse is most common in the form of

IPV

-Medication and mental decline can impact consent

-Those with moderate to late stage Alzheimer's or dementia may be legally incapable of providing consent

Catherine Vandermaesen of Ojai, California

arrested for elder (her 74yo sister and 96yo father) and animal abuse when 700 rats were found in the residence as well as urine and fecal matter along with various pets

Coercive control

(Emotional/Psychological Abuse)

using threat of assault, humiliation, or intimidation

Non-verbal

(Emotional/Psychological Abuse)

-Taking away possessions, food, affection

-Silent treatment/ignoring

-Restricting basic necessities

What things make elders particularly vulnerable to financial exploitation

retirement nest eggs, caregiver dependency, and cognitive decline

Motivation for elder financial crime

-belief that family member is owed

-belief that this is payment for caregiver

-belief that elderly person will not miss money

-belief that they will manage money better than elderly person

Physical Abuse

Can increase the likelihood of premature death by 300%

Emotional/psychological abuse

Most common, least criminally charged

-In FL purposeful isolation is now considered a form of neglect/emotional abuse

Causes of elder abuse

-Caregiver entitlement (techniques of neutralization to justify offending)

-Relatively younger elder person (less cognitive/physical decline, BUT greater financial nest eggs)

-Isolation (majority of elderly people live at home alone or with one other person)

-Agism (social and economic view point that elder lives are less valuable)

-Ablism (majority of elderly have at least one form of disability)

-Histories of child maltreatment/IPV (victim-offender overlap fueled by revenge)

Consequences of Elder Abuse

-Caregiver strain (due to finances, unpreparedness, lack of caregiver education)

-Substance abuse by victim (over prescription of pain medications, access to substances can be a motivational cause for offenders)

-Financial losses (permanent loss of medical insurance or personal)

-Hospitalization and increase in decline

-Increased fear of crime and self-protection methods

Race and SES are related to elder abuse due to

characteristics of offender, not the victim

-poverty, substance use, unchecked mental health issues, and stress experienced by offender motivate behavior

Protective factors against elder abuse

Social support is one of the strongest protective factors.

Suicide warning signs in Elderly

-changes to will

-giving items/money to loved ones

-sudden good mood

-lose interest in social activities

-self-neglect

General Strain Theory 3 sources of strain

1. When they fail to achieve a positively valued goal

2. When there is a removal of a positively valued stimulus

3. When there is the addition of a negatively valued stimulus

Strain impacts behavior because

it causes an emotional response

Negative Emotionality (General Strain Theory)

A tendency for an emotional strain response with anger, depression, and frustration

Mandatory Reporting

-Any person working in a profession where they are disproportionately more likely to interact with elder populations

-ALL healthcare professionals are mandatory reporters and trained to identify signs of elder abuse

Elder Abuse Reporting

grossly underreported due to:

-Fear of getting family member in trouble

-Inability to remember or provide evidence of probable cause

Police-Investigations

Conduct investigative questioning

-APS is only involved if there is reason to believe this is a disabled adult or there is a need for cognitively sensitive questioning/protection

Welfare checks

done to ensure the life and basic safety of elder person

IPV calls

These calls are rarer but confusion, recanting, and unwillingness to arrest elder persons

Financial elder abuse calls

Police are often untrained to knowhow to identify from records financial crimes

roll call

active efforts to train police officers to identify signs of elder abuse; the training includes the ability to differentiate between declines in aging and abuse

SAFTA

Senior Abuse Financial Tracking and Accounting Tool; tracking system for police to document and investigate suspicious financial patterns

EAGLE

Elder Abuse Guide for Law Enforcement; online tool to help officer identify, intervene, and resolve issues of elder abuse; provides a way to document cases, ZIP code based community resources, state-to-state penal codes on elder abuse, webinars for law enforcement

all states had some form of APS

1981

42 states had mandatory reporting laws

1991

not much has changed in APS protections since

1995

Elder Justice Act

-established the Elder Justice Coordinating Council

-provides money direct to state APS systems and mandatory reporting in long-term care•