Elder Abuse 

A Growing Concern in the African American Community 

By Brigette Settles Scott, MA


Closing the Gap, Violence Prevention - Who’s Responsible? • January/February 2002


Each year hundreds of thousands of older persons are abused, 

neglected, and exploited by family members and others. Many 

victims are people who are frail, vulnerable, and depend on 

others to meet their most basic needs. 

Currently, elder abuse is defined by state laws, and state definitions vary considerably from one jurisdiction to another in terms of 

what constitutes the mistreatment of the elderly. Generally accepted 

definitions are: 

3⁄4 Physical abuse is the willful infliction of physical pain or injury, 

e.g., slapping, bruising, sexually molesting, or restraining. 

3⁄4 Sexual abuse is the infliction of non-consensual sexual contact of 

any kind. 

3⁄4 Psychological abuse is the infliction of mental or emotional anguish, e.g., humiliating, intimidating, or threatening. prised 15.4 percent of abuse victims of this type. 

3⁄4 Financial or material exploitation is the improper act or process 3⁄4 Abandonment accounted for only 3.6 percent of all victims of 

of an individual, using the resources of an older person, without elder abuse. Interestingly, the percentages of White victims (41.3 

his/her consent, for someone else’s benefit. percent) and African American victims (57.3 percent) for this 

type of abuse were very close, but with the African American 

3⁄4 Neglect is the failure of a caretaker to provide goods or services population significantly over-represented than its proportion of 

necessary to avoid physical harm, mental anguish, or mental ill­ the elderly population (8.3 percent). 

ness, e.g., abandonment, denial of food or health-related services. 

3⁄4 Self-neglecting elders were predominately White (77.4 percent), 

According to the first-ever National Elder Abuse Incidence Study, while 20.9 percent were African American and 1.7 percent were 

released in 1998, our oldest elders (80 years and over) are abused and other or unknown. The African American elderly are two-and-aneglected at two to three times their proportion of the elderly popula­ half times more likely to be self-neglecting than their proportion 

tion—with female elders abused at a higher rate than males. of the elderly population. 

While the study indicates that White elders are victims of abuse For more information on elder abuse or to view the entire study, go to 

more often than other racial and ethnic groups (eight out of ten times http://www.aoa.dhhs.gov/abuse/report/default.htm

for most types of maltreatment), the incidence of abuse among elderly 

African Americans is a growing concern. Blacks are over-represented 

in nearly all types of maltreatment relative to their proportion of the 

elderly population. More specifically: 

3⁄4 Emotional/psychological abuse was the second most frequent 

type of maltreatment, with 35.5 percent of victims. African 

American elders were over-represented (14.1 percent) as victims 

of this type of maltreatment. 

3⁄4 Physical abuse was the third most frequent type of elder maltreatment, with 25.6 percent of abuse victims. African American 

elders comprised approximately 9.0 percent. 

3⁄4 Financial/material exploitation was the fourth most frequent type 

of maltreatment, with 30.2 percent of all elder abuse victims. 

Again, African American elders were over-represented, and comNeed more information on elder abuse? Consider the following: 

The National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) , funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Aging, 

is a resource for public and private agencies, professionals, service providers, and individuals interested in elder abuse prevention information, 

training, technical assistance, and research. For more information, go to http://www.elderabusecenter.org 

The National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (NCPEA) is an association of researchers, practitioners, educators, and 

advocates dedicated to protecting the safety, security, and dignity of America’s most vulnerable citizens. For more information, go to http:// 

www.preventelderabuse.org/ 

Understanding and Combating Elder Abuse in Minority Communities details proceedings of a 1997 conference 

. Single copies are available at no cost from the 

one.org 

sponsored by the NCEA and funded by the Archstone Foundation

Archstone Foundation. For more information, go to http://www.archst

Office of Minority Health Resource Center	 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services