Review

An issue of neglect

ELDER ABUSE IN PERSPECTIVE
S Biggs, C Phillipson and P Kingston
Open University Press, 1995, £13.99

This book tackles the emotionally charged topic of abuse and neglect of older people from many perspectives. Varyingly termed in the literature as ‘granny bashing’, ‘battered elder syndrome’ and ‘inadequate care of the elderly’, the phenomenon has emerged in recent years as a world-wide social problem. This account claims to be ‘the most critical, comprehensive and substantive exploration of the subject published in the UK so far’.

The book is designed with two purposes: first, to educate professionals in the nature of the problem and its possible solutions; and, second, to review the literature on research, theory and practice to date. It is more successful in the latter, with useful discussion of developments in policy, attitudes and initiatives in the UK and internationally. To this extent the text is often more concerned with exploration than education, and necessarily so given the infancy of the topic. It does make recommendations, however, and notes that policy too often draws on commonsense assumptions — such as ‘carer stress’, ‘victim dependency’ or ‘role reversal’ — that are ill-supported by research evidence.

The title Elder Abuse in Perspective is appropriate because the authors address historical, sociological and psychological perspectives. Reference is also made to the inevitable comparisons with child abuse and domestic violence approaches, drawing parallels and differences and learning lessons from these more ‘established’ issues. This emphasises the relatively new nature of the subject and the need to be tentative with such a small research history.

The task is to lay sound foundations for conceptualising a new social problem, and the authors stress the need for clarity in all areas. The language and labels are chosen carefully, reflecting the book’s central theme that elder abuse may be linked to the deprived status of elderly people in British society, and it tries to promote positive connotations for older people, leading to phrases such as ‘Elder conveys their special status in life course terms’.

Although ambitious, in just 123 pages the book manages to review the subject to date in a way that is useful to practitioners, students and interested social observers alike. The authors may pose more questions than they answer and it appears that there is no one particular paradigm they are promoting, but it is the subject itself that requires attention.