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Perpetrators of Elder Domestic Violence
Elder domestic abuse can be the result of many different situations, and its victims are often men as well as women. Perpetrators may be spouses/partners, adult children, family members, or caregivers. Aside from the commonalties that all victims share, regardless of age, there are some situations unique to elder domestic violence. Elder domestic violence may be the result of the following:
 

 
STATISTIC
Two-thirds of elder abusers are adult children or spouses.
  • It may be just another incident in a long pattern of abuse.
  • It may be that the abuser’s violent tendencies were always present, but kept in check through control factors, such as a job or children in the home.
  • In later life, abusers may feel they have nothing to lose.
  • Abuse can begin in a second or later marriage.
  • Retirement may induce previously squelched domestic violence - because employment plays a significant role in society’s definition of manhood, retirement may cause some men to feel emasculated or useless. Exerting power over a woman is this abuser’s way of feeling “manly” once again.
  • The abuse may be a reprisal against the original batterer, either from a formerly abused spouse or formerly abused children.
  • Children or caregivers may seek to control elders as a means of securing money or financial support from them.
Many perpetrators of elder domestic violence are spouses, however, studies indicate that the victim’s children are often abusers as well, and in fact are the most common abusers of the elderly. Adult sons are more likely to be physical abusers, whereas daughters are more likely to engage in emotional and verbal abuse. Adult children that abuse their parents are usually found to be unemployed and/or financially dependent upon their parents. They often live in the parents’ home.