Elder Abuse within Indigenous Populations

Elder abuse can be defined as "the neglect or harmful physical, social, psychological, sexual, or material effects caused by behaviors of a person within whom a senior has an informal relationship implying trust" (Boldy, Horner, Crouchley, Davey and Boylen, 2005, 3). Elder abuse is a serious concern that is affecting numerous Indigenous Communities. In order to keep our aging population safe this dilemma needs to be addressed on a series of levels; in the community, within regions and especially at national levels.

It is also important to note the difference in definition of elders between mainstream and Indigenous cultures. The term elder refers to Indigenous peoples over the age of 55 where as in Canada's guidelines elders are 65 years old and is used to describe an older person/senior. Within Indigenous cultures Elder is a proper name that identifies honor, giving a title to those who have gifts of understanding and from who we should learn. Smith (2002) lists additional terms to which these Elders may be referred; Old Ones, Wise ones, grandmothers, grandfathers, and in the Métis Nations, they are called Senators.

Smith (2002) goes on to examine statistics from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, outlining the incidents of elder abuse occurring within families in Canada. It is indicated that the majority of older persons are abused by non-family members however, there is a 27% chance of them being abused by a family member with a detailed breakdown of the most likely family members as follows; their adult children (43%), spouses (28%), extended family members (13%), siblings (10%) and parents (6%) (p.7). One such case of family abuse happened recently in Scarborough, Ontario when an elderly woman was forced to live in an unheated garage of her children’s home. (Winnipeg Free Press, 2011).  

Unfortunately, research on elder abuse is very limited in Canada and is even sparsely found throughout the world, and what studies there are should be interpreted with caution.  Nevertheless, major risk factors for elder abuse have been identified as; inter-generational violence, degree of dependency, stress and ageism. This research further indicates that these factors and more may be evident in First Nations communities, but very little is known about abuse within those populations. Although there is a lack of reported evidence it is theorized that incidences of abuse may even be higher in Indigenous communities than is reported in the overall population. These theories are mainly based on violence rates in Aboriginal communities being higher than average and making inferences that those abuse rates may be seen in the older population as well (Smith, 2002).

One form of elder abuse that has occurred in my family is financial abuse. My grandmother is a residential school survivor.  When she received a settlement some of her children and grandchildren  became greedy and demanded  that she give them money for things they needed, and made her feel guilty for not sharing her money. They took advantage of her giving nature and as a result, my grandmother felt obligated to help family out and as a result was broke within one year. 

There have been incidents that have happened historically to destroy the Aboriginal family and these events had a devastating and negative effect on families and community. Aboriginal people continue to exist in sub-standard conditions that undoubtedly contribute to the higher than average rates of violence. Socio economic conditions could be a factor which contributes to violence, and this can be especially true in Indigenous Communities.  Many elders are still feeling the negative impacts of residential schools. This has resulted in individual family members and most often elders, to have lost the respect they once held and, as a consequence, are at risk of abuse and neglect. If healing does not take place to address those impacts and if the current socio-economic conditions are not addressed, violence in Indigenous communities especially the most vulnerable will continue at its present high rate and could even escalate (Smith 2002).  

Research on the abuse of elders must be initiated to determine with accuracy the extent of this problem and to develop strategies to come to the aid of those Aboriginal elders who are being abused and neglected. This is a matter that must be addressed by both Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal researchers, policy-makers and health and social service providers.

A study in Western Australia conducted by Boldy et al. (2005) on elder abuse provides recommendations that Canada can adapt.    In order to prevent the occurrences of elder abuse, recommendations and changes need to take place on all levels. Some of the recommendations that were made are:

1)      Future efforts are targeted at activities aimed at gaining an increased understanding of why elder abuse occurs and what could be the most cost-effective primary preventions and interventions

2)  Education is needed in both the professional environment and for the general public

3)  Our elders needs to be educated on their rights

4)  The available range of desirable interventions needs to be appraised and attention being paid to the provision of respite care, advocacy and counseling services for old people that are at risk of experiencing abuse or those who have experienced it.

Learning about elder abuse has allowed me to recognize this situation that has occurred in my family and it saddens me that some of my relatives have taken advantage of my grandmother. This example of elder abuse that has occurred is just one of many examples of the loss of respect Indigenous people have for their elders today.  Elder abuse is an issue that could affect any aging member of society regardless of race, gender or socio-economic status.  We as members of society need to work together to prevent elder abuse, in order to keep all of our elders safe.

-Arlene-