Social Abuse Among Elderly People in Australia

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
Foundations of the Human Services Disciplines
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2SOCIOLOGY
Articulation of the issue
Social abuse usually takes place in many different forms and by many different agents as
well. Social abuse by definition refers to the oppression and the isolation that is inflicted upon
the people of a particular group or age. One such instance of social abuse is seen among the
elderly people of Australia. This is one of the severe social needs that must be taken care of by
the Government of Australia and the society as a whole because the aged people are like our
assets and we must always take care of them. However often the old and elder people are
subjected to social isolation and are also detached from their basic financial, health and also
family support system. Coles et al., (2015) have opined that the brutal incidences of the leader
social abuse are taking a gruesome picture in Australia. This is because old age is the most
vulnerable age and people tend to lean more upon their near and dear ones.
However, the 21st century is the age of huge competition. Therefore people in most of the
families are work and they often find it tough to strike a balance between their household
activities and also their official responsibilities. This can also be considered as one of the major
reason why people tend to neglect their parents and their grandparents at a certain period.
However, Broadley, (2015) has argued that there are several plans, policies, and acts being
established by the Government of Australia to provide proper protection to the elderly people of
Australia to prevent any kinds of social abuse. However, some issues are still faced by people
even after they are entitled to the services. As is seen from the reports, women are the most
vulnerable in their old ages. However, it is a fact that both the men and women are subjected to
immense physical and mental abuse in their old age. Lawyers have forwarded their views
regarding this fact emphasizing that the elder female clients are usually greater sufferers than the
make clients. For an instance, it is said by an 80-year-old lady that she was busy in dressing

3SOCIOLOGY
herself her for granddaughter’s wedding ceremony and unknowingly and in that existent, she was
made to sign some papers which gave the entire ownership of her house to her granddaughter.
(Turner, 2019).
In a similar context, it is also said by another lady that she had lived a life under domestic
violence all her life and finally, she felt that she got relief. She thought that she will be able to
lead a peaceful life with her son. Unfortunately, her son took away all her money to buy a house
for him while forcing the lady to stay in a nursing home. As per the opinion of Mazzone
Nocentini and Menesini, (2018) there are some difference in the domestic violence and the elder
abuse because there is the breach of trust seen in the case of elder abuse.
Historical and current community responses
There are several policies undertaken by the Government to safeguard the rights of
elderly people. Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 is one of the Government
endeavors that was taken to provide a complete safeguard to the interest of the old people who
suffer from financial, physical and mental abuse. Though efforts have been made to identify and
save people that are subjected to violence some kinds of drawbacks are still staying. These
backlogs are usually created because people try to group domestic violence and elderly violence.
This must be understood in a similar context that there are certain lines of variations among the
two and therefore they must be dealt with properly. It must be noted that elderly women are often
survivors of domestic violence since their early ages and there was no one to give them any right
pieces of advice. This prolonged period of torture might lead to many other problems like
dementia in the elder ages. Therefore the Government must provide multidisciplinary or inter-
professional care so that these people who are the victims of elderly abuse can find a respite.