Family Violence

• Author: Julien D. Payne, Marilyn A. Payne
• Pages: 90-129

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 

Family Violence

A. INTRODUCTION

One of the best kept secrets of the twentieth century was the incidence of

domestic violence in supposedly intact famil ies. It is only in the last t wenty

years that family violence has been recognized as a serious social problem

that encompasses the abuse of elderly parents or grandparents as well as

spousal and ch ild abuse.

In the words of MacDonald J, of the Nova S cotia Supreme Court, in MAB

v LAB:

Domestic violence most commonly refers to a situation where an adult

intimate or former intimate partner attempts by psychological, physical,

nancial or sexual means to coerce, dominate or control the other. is

violence reveals a pattern of conduct that may be verbal, physical or sex-

ual. e conduct targets another person’s self-esteem and emotional well-

being. It can include humiliating, belittling, denigrating, intimidating,

controlling or isol ating behaviour. It can include physical assaults, se xual

assaults, sexual humiliation, sleep deprivation, extortion, economic co-

ercion, threats to harm or kill, destruction of property, threatened or at-

tempted suicide, lit igation harassment and l itigation tactics, ma nipulation

of children, of relatives, of investigation agencies and helping personnel,

surveil lance, monitoring, and st alking. e abuse and v iolence in intimate

partnersh ips has a complex reciprocal dyna mic not found in violence that

occurs between strangers.

 See, general ly, Canada, Depar tment of Justice, Fami ly Violence Initiat ive, online: ww w.

phac-aspc.gc.ca/ncfv-cnivf/familyviolence/initiative_e.html.

  NSSC  at para .

Chapter : Family Violence

B. ABUSE OF THE ELDERLY

A sadly neglected aspect of abuse that has come to the forefront since the

s is abuse of the elderly. Although such abuse has been found in situa-

tions involving ins titutional care, it more frequently involves younger fa mily

members, often child ren or grandchildren.

e most common abuse of the elderly is na ncial abuse, which is often

accompanied by emotional abus e. e retirement savings of an elderly parent

or grandparent may be squandered by children or grandchildren. Monthly

pension or disability cheques may be with held. Children and grandchi ldren

may “jump the gun” on prospective inheritances without any thought for

the impact of such conduct on the elderly parent or grandparent. eft of

money or possessions represents more than  percent of all cases of abuse

of the elderly. In some instances, resista nce by the elderly person may result

in physical abuse.

It has been estimated that at least  percent and perhaps as many as

 percent of the elderly in Canada are abused nancially, emotionally, or

physically by their children, grandchildren, spouses, or caregivers. Health

and Welfare Canada has estimated that more than , Canadians over

sixty-ve years of age are vict ims of abuse. However, the incidence of abuse

is likely to be much h igher because of the ease with which it c an be concealed

by family members.

e characteristics of the abused victim are similar to those identied

with respect to the “battered wife syndrome.” Victims of elder abuse feel

helpless and sense that they have no place to go in order to avoid the abuse.

ey often have low self-esteem, are dependent on the abuser, and lack the

physical, emotiona l, and often nancia l ability to withdraw from t he abusive

environment. ey are fear ful of being abandoned or sent to an institution;

they are ignorant of their legal rights; and they are often isolated or unable

to communicate.

Abuse of the elderly is not a new social problem but its incidence is in-

creasing with t he aging of the Canadian population. In , . percent of

the population of Can ada was over sixty-ve year s of age. By , it wil l be

more than  percent. A lthough federal and provincial gover nments, univer-

sities, and social age ncies are beginning to show some interest in de ning the

boundaries and potential solutions to the societal problem of abuse of the

elderly, no concerted eort has yet been undertaken to come to grips with

it. ere is evidence, however, of increased awa reness of the need for change.

 See, generall y, P Lynn McDonald, Joseph P Hor nick, et al, Elder A buse and Neglect in Can-

ada (Toronto: Butterwort hs, ); see also Man itoba Law Reform Comm ission, Report

No , Adult Protec tion and Elder Abuse ( Winnipeg: e Com mission, December  ).

  

A parliamentary study on abuse of the elderly in  recommended that

federal fundi ng should be available to provide shelters for elderly vict ims of

abuse. It also recommended that the federal government should work with

organizations responsible for professional standards and for the education

of physicians, nurses, social workers, bankers, and lawyers so that abuse of

the elderly could be identied a nd dealt with. It further recommended t hat a

large-sca le federal study should be undertaken to ascertain t he scope of the

problem and the means of deali ng with it.

C. NATURE OF SPOUSAL A BUSE

Although the expression “spousal abuse” has been traditionally conned to

persons who are married, it is also frequently used to refer to conduct be-

tween divorced spouses or persons living in a cohabitational relationship.

“Spousal abuse” takes various forms but all involve domination or the im-

proper exercise of power or control over a spouse, d ivorced spouse, or quasi-

marital partner. Spousal abuse may involve physical, sexual, psychological,

or economic oppression.

Physical abuse involves the appl ication of force. It includes beating, s lap-

ping, punching, kicking, choking, stabbing, shooting , and throwing objects

at the victim. Even when physic al assaults are intermittent or isolated, t hey

may have a long-term impact because the threat of repetition is never far

from the victim’s mind. Domination established through a single act of vio-

lence can produce long-term emotional abuse that is reinforced by subse-

quent threats, isolation, deg radation, or economic control.

Spousal homicide accounts for  percent of all homic ide deaths in Canada.

Four times as many women as men a re killed by their spouses or par tners.

 House of Commons Sta nding Committee on He alth and Welfare, So cial Aai rs, Seniors

and the Statu s of Women, Breaking the Silence on the Abu se of Older Canadians: Ever yone’s

Concern (Ottawa: e Co mmittee, June ).

 e rst seniors’ shelt er in Canada was o pened in east-end Mont real in : Ottawa

Citizen ( Aug ust ) B.

 See Canadian Net work for the Prevention of E lder Abuse, “A Draft Fra mework for a

National Strat egy for the Prevention o f Abuse and Neglect of Old er Adults in Canad a: A

Proposal ” ( November ), onli ne: www.cnpea.ca /Strategy Framework .pdf;

and “Outlook  : Promising Appro aches in the Preventi on of Abuse and Neglect of

Older Adults in C ommunity Setti ngs in Canada,” onl ine: www.cnpea.c a/Promisin g

Approaches Final .pdf. See, generally, e Ca nadian Centre for Eld er

Law, online: w ww.bcli.org/ccel.

 For insight into ve ba sic types of inter- parental violenc e and corresponding p atterns

in parent-c hild relationsh ips, see Janet R Johnston & Li nda EG Campbell, “ Parent-

Child Rel ationships in Domest ic Violence Families D isputing Custody ” (July ) :

Family and Conc iliation Cour ts Review .