Family Violence

• Author: Julien D. Payne/Marilyn A. Payne
• Pages: 91-133

 

FAMILY V IOLENC E1

A. INTRODUCTION

One of the best kept secrets of the twentieth centur y was the incidence

of domestic violence in supposedly intact families. It is only in the last

twenty years that fam ily violence has been recognized as a serious socia l

problem that encompasses the abuse of elderly parents or grandparents

as well as spousal and ch ild abuse. Until the early s, when Dr. Kempe

coined the phrase “ battered child syndrome,” physical injuries to children

were almost invariably assumed to be caused by accidents inside or out-

side the home, such as falling of‌f a bike, tu mbling down the stairs, or get-

ting into a scaldi ng bath. Sexual abuse, ritual abuse, a nd incest were not

widely publicize d until the s. Spousal violence w as formerly regarded

as a private af‌fair a nd police were reluctant to interfere. e only form

of spousal abuse that would guara ntee police intervention and criminal

prosecution was murder. But the exposure of spousal and chi ld abuse in

the courts, in the press, and on television has triggered public concern

and the interest of provincial and federa l governments in seeking solu-

tions to these social and family crises.

 See, generally, Depar tment of Justice, Canada, Fa mily Violence Initiative, on line:

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

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92 CANADIAN FAMILY LAW

B. ABUSE OF THE ELDERLY

A sadly neglected aspect of abus e that has come to the forefront in the

s is abuse of the elderly.Although such abuse has been found in situ-

ations involving institutional care, it frequently involves younger family

members, often children or gr andchildren.

e most common abuse of the elderly is f‌inancial abuse, wh ich is

often accompan ied by emotional abuse. e ret irement savings of an

elderly parent or grandparent may be squandered by children or gra nd-

children. Monthly pension or disability cheques may be withheld. Chi l-

dren and grandchild ren 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 ca ses of abuse of the elderly. In some in stances, resist ance

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 f‌ina ncially, emotionally, or

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

and Welfare Canada has estimated that more than , Canadians

over sixty-f‌ive years of age are victims of abu se. However, the incidence of

abuse is likely to be much higher because of the ea se with which it can be

concealed by family members.

e characteristics of the abus ed victim are simila r to those identi-

f‌ied 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, emotional, and often f‌in ancial ability to withdraw from

the abusive environment. ey are fearf ul 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

increasing with the ageing of the Canadian population. In , . per-

cent of the po pulation of Canada was over sixt y-f‌ive yea rs of age. By ,

it will be more than  percent. Although federal and provincial govern-

ments, universities, and social agencies are beginning to show some in-

 See, generally, P. Lynn McDonald, Joseph P. HornickSee, generally, P. Lynn McDonald, Jos eph P. Hornick et al.,Elder Abuse and Neglect

in Canada (Toronto: Butterworth s, ). See also Manitoba Law Reform Comm is-

sion, Report No. , Adult Protec tion and Elder Abuse (Win nipeg: e Commis-

sion, December ).

93Family Violence

terest in def‌ining the boundar ies and potential solutions to the societal

problem of abuse of the elderly, no concerted ef‌fort has yet been under-

taken to come to grips with it. ere is evidence, however, of increased

awareness of the need for change. A parliamentar y study on abuse of the

elderly in  recommended that federal fundi ng should be avai lable to

provide shelters for elderly victims 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 iden-

tif‌ied and dealt wit h. It further recommended that a large-sca le federal

study should be undertaken to ascer tain the scope of the problem and the

means of dealing wit h it.

One project in t he mid-s that was funded by the federal gov-

ernment sought to develop an education program and a police response

protocol to deal w ith abuse of the elderly. is projec t was a joint venture

of the Nepean Police and the Queensway Carleton Hospital . Its objectives

were as fol lows:

(i) to sensitize police of‌f‌icers to the problem of elder abuse;

(ii) to develop a protocol for police intervention;

(iii) to devise pol icies and procedures that will provide more constructive

responses from the crimina l justice system;

(iv) to develop and monitor a multidi sciplinary and collaborative consul-

tation and case review ser vice between the police and social agen-

cies;

(v) to develop educational programs for police of‌f‌icers to deal w ith the

three Rs of i ntervention — namely, Recognition, Re sponsibility, and

Respons e;

(vi) to recognize the special needs of racia l minorities, the aboriginal

communities, dif‌ferent linguistic groups, and persons with disabil-

ities; and

(vii)to standardize terminology.

Much more is needed! Social attitudes towards the elderly must

undergo a radical shif t. We must cease to ques tion their competence sim-

 Canada,HouseofCommonsStandingCommitteeonHealthandWelfare,SocialCanada, House of Com mons Standing Comm ittee on Health and Welfare, Soc ial

Af‌fairs, S eniors and the Status of Women, Breaking the Sil ence on the Abuse of

Older Canadi ans: Everyone’s Concern (Ott awa: e Committee, June ).

 e f‌irst seniors’ shelter i n Canada was opened in east-end Montre al in :e f‌irst seniors’ shelter i n Canada was opened in eas t-end Montreal in : Ot-

tawa Citizen ( August ) B.