Family Violence

• Author: Julien D. Payne/Marilyn A. Payne
• Pages: 95-131



 

Family Violence

A. INTRODUCTION

One of the best kept secrets of the t wentieth century was the incidence of

domestic violence i n supposedly intact fa milies. It is only in the last twent y

years that family violence ha s been recog nized as a serious social problem

that encompasses t he abuse of elde rly parents or g randparents as well as

spousal and ch ild abuse.

B. ABUSE OF THE ELDERLY

A sad ly 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 institutiona l care, it more frequently involves younger family

members, often chi ldren or grandchildren.

e most common abuse of the elderly is f‌inanci al abuse, which is of ten

accompanied by emotional abuse. e retirement savings of an elderly parent

or gr andparent may be squandered by child ren or gr andchildren. Month ly

pension or dis ability cheques may b e withheld. Chi ldren and grandchi ldren

may “jump the gu n” on prospective inherita nces without any t hought for

the impact of such conduct on the elderly pa rent or g randparent. eft of

money or possessions represents more than  percent of all cases of abuse

 See, general ly, Canada, Depar tment of Justice, Fami ly Violence Initiati ve, online: www.

phac-aspc.gc.ca /ncfv-cniv f/family violence/initi ative_e.html .

 See, generally, P. Lynn McDon ald, Joseph P. Hornick, et a l., Elder Abuse and Neglect i n

Canada (Toronto: Butterwort hs, ). See also Man itoba Law Reform Commi ssion,

Report No. , A dult Protection and Elde r Abuse (Winn ipeg: e Commission , December

).

   

of the elderly. In some instances, resistance by the elderly person may resu lt

in physical abuse.

It h as been estimated that at least  percent and perhaps as many as

 percent of t he elderly in C anada a re abused f‌inancial ly, e motionally, or

physically by t heir chi ldren, gra ndchildren, spouses, or caregivers. Health

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

sixty- f‌ive years of age are vic tims of abuse. However, the inc idence of abuse

is likely to be much higher because of the ease with which it can be concealed

by family members.

e ch aracteristics of the abused victim are simil ar to those identif‌ied

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

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

ey often have low self-es teem, are dependent on the abuser, and l ack the

physical, emotional, and often f‌inanci al ability to withdraw from the abusive

environment. ey are fearful of being abandoned or sent to an institution;

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

to communicate.

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

creasing with the agei ng of the Canadian population. In , . percent of

the population of Canada was over si xty-f‌ive years of age. By , it will be

more than  percent. A lthough federal and provincia l governments, univer-

sities, and social agencies are beginning to show some interest in def‌ining the

boundaries and potentia l solutions to the societa l problem of abuse of t he

elderly, no concer ted ef‌fort h as yet been undertaken to come to g rips with

it. ere is evidence, however, of increased awareness of t he need for change.

A pa rliamentary study on abuse of the elderly in  recommended that

federal fund ing should be available to provide shelters for elderly vic tims of

abuse. It a lso recommended that the federal government should work with

organizations responsible for professional standards and for t he education

of physician s, nurses, social workers, bankers, and lawyers so that abuse of

the elderly could be identif‌ied and dealt with . It further recommended th at a

large-sca le federal study should be u ndertaken to ascerta in the scope of the

problem and the means of deal ing with it.

 House of Commons Stan ding Committee on Hea lth and Welfare, Soc ial Af‌fair s, 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 f‌irst seniors’ s helter in Canada wa s opened in east-e nd Montreal in : Ott awa

Citizen ( Aug ust ) B.

 See Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, “A Draft Framework for a

National Strat egy for the Preventio n of Abuse and Neglect of O lder Adults in Can ada: A

Proposal ” ( November ), online : www.cnpea.ca/Strate gyFrame work.

Chapter : Family Viole nce 

C. NATURE OF SPOUSAL ABUSE

Although the expression “spousa l abuse” has been traditionally conf‌ined to

persons who are married, it is also frequent ly 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, divorced spouse, or quasi-

marital partner. Spous al abuse may involve physic al, sexua l, psychologica l,

or economic oppression.

Physical abuse involves t he application of force. It includes beating, slap-

ping, punc hing, kicking , choking, stabbi ng, shooting, and throwing objects

at the vict im. Even when physical assaults are intermittent or isolated, t hey

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

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

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

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

Spousal homicide accounts for  percent of all homicide deaths in Canada.

Four times as many women as men are killed by their spouses or partners.

Sexual abuse is usually an aspect of physica l abuse that involves the

perpetration of sexua l acts against the will of a spouse and may include mari-

tal rape.e fa ct that a couple is married or living toget her does not entitle

either of them to insist that thei r partner engage in any form of sexual ac tiv-

ity. Marita l rape or any other forced sexu al activity is an of‌fence under the

Criminal Code of Canada . In , the criminal of‌fence of “rape” w as replaced

by the of‌fence of sexual ass ault, which can be committed by a spouse or part-

ner as well as by a stra nger.

Emotional or psyc hological abuse most frequent ly arises from verbal as-

saults, such as threats or disparaging comments directed towards a spouse.

Emotional a buse often accompan ies physical or sexual abu se, but can exist

in the absence of physica l or sexual abuse. Emotiona l abuse signif‌ies that

one party deme ans, belittles, degrades, or threatens the other par ty to such

a degree that the v ictim’s psychological well-being is i n jeopardy.

pdf; and “Outlook  : Promising Ap proaches in the Preve ntion of Abuse and Neglec t of

Older Adults in C ommunity Sett ings in Canada ,” online: www.cnpea.c a/Promisi ng

ApproachesFinal.pdf. See, generally, e Canadian Centre for Elder Law,

online: www.bcli.org/ccel.

 For insight into f‌ive basic ty pes of inter-pare ntal violence and cor responding patter ns

in parent-c hild relationsh ips, see Janet R. Johnston & L inda E.G. Campbel l, “Parent-

Child Rel ationships in Domest ic Violence Families D isputing Custody ” (July ) :

Family and Conc iliation Cour ts Review .