Ageism
Discrimination on the basis of age is now against federal law. Nonetheless, prejudices based on false stereotypes are still common. The elderly are frequently seen as perpetually lonely, sad, infirm, forgetful, dependent, senile, old-fashioned, inflexible, and embittered.
Ageism is prejudice and/or discrimination based on age, and like all prejudices, is fueled in part by stereotypes.
There are a number of reasons for such prejudice. The previously mentioned American obsession with youthfulness, reflected in popular entertainment and advertising, leads many younger people to disparage their elders, frequently dismissing them as irrelevant. The new information technology undoubtedly reinforces these prejudices, because youthfulness and computer abilities seem to go hand in hand. In the fast-paced world of cable TV, the web, and dot-com businesses that seem to flourish and perish overnight, young people may come to view the elderly as anachronistic, which means "belonging to another time."
Associated with the emphasis of youthfulness is a fear-filled avoidance of reminders of death and dying. Such fear carries over into negative attitudes toward the elderly, who serve as a constant reminder of one's mortality.
In one study, college students were shown a photograph of the same man at ages twenty-five, fifty-two, and seventy-three and were asked to rate him in terms of a variety of personality characteristics.
The ratings were significantly more negative for the man depicted at age seventy-three. When he looked old in his photograph, the students perceived him negatively, even though they knew absolutely nothing about him. The mere fact of his being elderly was sufficient to trigger a negative cultural stereotype. Widely shared cultural stereotypes of grumpy old men can lead to private opinions that are hurtful to older people.
Abuse
The National Center on Elder Abuse (1999) defines seven types of elder abuse:
1. Physical abuse - use of physical force that may result in bodily injury, physical pain, or impairment
2. Sexual abuse - nonconsensual sexual contact of any kind with an elderly person
3. Emotional abuse - infliction of anguish, pain, or distress through verbal or nonverbal acts
4. Financial/material exploitation - illegal or improper use of an elder's funds, property, or assets
5. Neglect - refusal, or failure, to fulfill any part of a person's obligations or duties to an elderly person
6. Abandonment - desertion of an elderly person by an individual who has physical custody of the elder or by a person who has assumed responsibility for providing care to the elder
7. Self-neglect - behaviors of an elderly person that threaten the elder's health or safety
Cases of elderly abuse certainly exist, but most research suggests that it is not as widespread as is commonly believed. Worldwide, it is estimated that between 4 and 6 percent of the elderly experience some form of abuse at home. Nationwide it is estimated that between one and two million Americans over age sixty-five have been injured, exploited, or otherwise mistreated.
One random survey among two thousand non-institutionalized elderly people in the Boston area found that only about 2 percent had experienced physical violence, although these figures may be somewhat low because abuse rates may be higher among those who are unable to respond to surveys. Particularly in cases of financial abuse, it is estimated that only one in twenty-five cases are reported, suggesting that there may be five million financial abuse victims every year (National Center on Elder Abuse 2005).
Older adults who are embarrassed or ashamed of their mistreatment also may be reluctant to report such experiences. Fewer than 1 percent reported being seriously neglected in terms of their daily needs, while about 1 percent claimed they were subject to chronic verbal aggression.
It is widely believed that abuse results from the anger and resentment that adult children feel when confronted with the need to care for their infirm parents. Most studies, however, have found this to be a false stereotype. More than half of the abuse reported in the Boston study was perpetrated by a spouse; only a quarter of the cases occurred at the hands of an adult child.
Furthermore, in cases when a child abused an elderly parent, it was found that he or she was more likely to be financially dependent on the parent, rather than the reverse. The child may feel resentment about being dependent, and the parent may be unwilling to terminate the abusive relationship because he or she feels obligated to help the child.
