Elder Abuse Emerges From the Shadows of Public Consciousness

• NCJ Number: 229883
• Date Published: April 2010
• Length: 4 pages
• Publication Series: NIJ Journal
• Agencies: NIJ

Annotation

This article reports on two studies sponsored by the National Institute of Justice that examined the prevalence of elder abuse and its detection through the forensic examination of the difference between accidental and inflicted bruising, and the article concludes with descriptions of elderly abuse cases in which prosecutors and victim-witness advocates have cooperated in gaining convictions of perpetrators of elder abuse.

Abstract

This article reports on two studies sponsored by the National Institute of Justice that examined the prevalence of elder abuse and its detection through the forensic examination of the difference between accidental and inflicted bruising. The article concludes with descriptions of elder abuse cases in which prosecutors and victim-witness advocates have cooperated in gaining convictions of perpetrators of elder abuse.