By L. René Bergeron
Journal of Gerontological Social Work
Vol. 3, No. 4 (2001)

Reviewed by Loree Cook-Daniels

In her provocative article, “An Elder Abuse Case Study: Caregiver Stress or Domestic Violence?” elder abuse researcher L. René Bergeron suggests that some abuse laws, along with the theories practitioners use as they build and reinforce policies, may actually preclude properly serving victims of domestic violence.

The article is built around a case with which the author was involved. In this situation, the wife of a man with Alzheimer’s Disease reported to her caregiver support group that she was very upset at herself for pushing her husband when he became aggressive.

Further investigation led to the author discovering that the woman (along with her son) had long been abused by the man, but that he had quit being physically abusive some years before. Now, as the Alzheimer’s progressed, he was again becoming physically aggressive.

The author and her colleagues referred the case to the local adult protective services (APS) agency. However, the agency declared the man the victim of abuse, and the woman the perpetrator. According to the APS agency, “the elder protection law was clear that the victim needed to have a form of incapacity, and they did not consider the wife to be incapacitated by years of domestic abuse.”

The author concludes with the recommendation that “APS agencies should be examining their caseloads very carefully to determine those cases of elder abuse, complicated by domestic violence, which current laws do not allow them to adequately address. The notion of perpetrator and victim may need to be expanded to include families suffering from interpersonal violent behaviors making it difficult to name only one as the perpetrator and only one as the victim – dual roles must be recognized by the system for appropriate service development.”

A single copy of this article (File No. L4499-9) can be obtained by sending a check for $1.80 made out to CANE-UD to:

Clearinghouse on Abuse and Neglect of the Elderly
Dep’t. of Consumer Studies
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716.

For further information on ordering materials, contact CANE at (302) 831-3525, or at CANE-UD@udel.edu.