The first-ever National Elder AbuseIncidence Study, conducted by the NationalCenter on Elder Abuse for theAdministration for Children and Familiesand the Administration on Aging, U.S.Department of Health and Human Services,estimates that at least one-half million olderpersons in domestic settings were abusedand/or neglected, or experienced self neglectduring 1996, and that for every reportedincident of elder abuse, neglect or selfneglect, approximately five go unreported. (The National Center on Elder Abuse, American PublicHuman Services Association. (September 1998). TheNational Elder Abuse Incidence Study: Final Report.Washington, DC: Administration for Children and Families& Administration on Aging, U.S. Department of Healthand Human Services.)
Female elders are abused at a higher ratethan males, after accounting for their largerproportion in the aging population. (Ibid.)
The nation's oldest elders (80 years andolder) are abused and neglected at two tothree times their proportion of the elderlypopulation. (Ibid.)
In almost 90 percent of the elder abuse andneglect incidents with a known perpetrator,the perpetrator is a family member, and two-thirds of the perpetrators are adult childrenor spouses. (Ibid.)
According to data released by the Bureau ofJustice Statistics (BJS) in September 1997,persons age 50 or older made up:
30 percent of the population
12 percent of murder victims
7 percent of serious violent crime victims.(Perkins, C. (1997, September). Age Patterns of Victimsof Serious Violent Crime: Special Report, NCJ-162031, p.1. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S.Department of Justice.)
Nationally, nearly 70 percent of AdultProtective Service agencies' annual caseloadsinvolve elder abuse. (Tatara, T. (1996, May)."Elder Abuse in Domestic Settings." Elder AbuseInformation Series, #I, p. 19. Washington, DC: NationalCenter on Elder Abuse.)
The National Center on Elder Abuseestimates the incidence of specific types ofelder maltreatment in 1994 (based on reportsfrom 39 states) as follows: physical abuse(15.7 percent); sexual abuse (.04 percent);emotional abuse (7.3 percent); neglect (58.5percent); financial exploitation (12.3percent); all other types (5.1 percent); andunknown (.06 percent). (Ibid., p. 8)
Among murders of victims over age 60, theiroffspring were the killers in 42 percent of thecases. Spouses were the perpetrators in 24percent of family murders of persons overage 60. (Dawson & Langan. (1994). Murder inFamilies. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics,U.S. Department of Justice.)
In most states, specific professionals aredesignated as "mandatory reporters of elderabuse" and are required by law to reportsuspected cases of elder maltreatment. In1994, 21.6 percent of all domestic elderabuse reports came from physicians andother health care professionals, while another9.4 percent came from service providers. Family members and relatives of victimsreported 14.9 percent of reported cases ofdomestic elder abuse. (Findings from a nationalstudy of domestic elder abuse reports conducted by theNational Center on Elder Abuse, 1994.)
Note: OVC makes no representation concerning theaccuracy of data from non-Department of Justice sources.
