DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03130
title: Effectiveness of a Joint Police and Social Services Response to Elder Abuse in Manhattan [New York City], New York, 1996-1997
title: Archival Version

description: This project consisted of an evaluation of an elder abuse
 program run by the New York Police Department and Victim Services
 Research. The focus of the study was domestic elder abuse, which
 generally refers to any of several forms of maltreatment, physical
 abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, neglect, and/or financial
 exploitation of an older person. The program, conducted in New York
 City public housing, had two complementary parts. First, public
 housing projects in Manhattan were assigned to one of two levels of
 public education (i.e., to receive or not to receive educational
 materials about elder abuse). Once the public education treatment had
 been implemented, 403 older adult residents of the housing projects
 who reported elder abuse to the police during the next ten months were
 assigned to one of two levels of follow-up to the initial police
 response (i.e., to receive or not to receive a home visit) as the
 second part of the project. The home visit intervention consisted of a
 strong law enforcement response designed to prevent repeat incidents
 of elder abuse. A team from the Domestic Violence Intervention and
 Education Program (DVIEP), consisting of a police officer and a social
 worker, followed up on domestic violence complaints with a home visit
 within a few days of the initial patrol response. Victims were
 interviewed about new victimizations following the intervention on
 three occasions: six weeks after the trigger incident, six months
 after the trigger incident, and twelve months after the trigger
 incident. Interviews at the three time points were identical except
 for the omission of background information on the second and third
 interviews. Demographic data collected during the first interview
 included age, gender, ethnicity, education, employment, income, legal
 relationship with abuser, living situation, number of people in the
 household, and health. For each time point, data provide measures of
 physical, psychological, and financial abuse, knowledge of elder
 abuse, knowledge and use of social services, satisfaction with the
 police, assessment of service delivery, and self-esteem and
 well-being. The DVIEP databases maintained on households at each of
 the three participating Police Service Areas (PSAs) were searched to
 identify new police reports of elder abuse for households in the
 sample within 12 months following the trigger incident. Variables from
 the DVIEP databases include age, race, ethnicity, and sex of the
 victim and the perpetrator, relationship of perpetrator to victim,
 type of abuse reported, charge, whether an arrest was made, if an
 order of protection had been obtained, if the order of protection was
 violated, use of weapons, if the victim had been injured, and if the
 victim was taken to the hospital. Several time lapse variables between
different time points are also provided.
description: Over the past two decades, domestic violence
 issues have been the focus of growing attention. Numerous studies have
 been undertaken to study violence in the home and to test ways of
 reducing it. Although a significant amount of research has been
 conducted on abused wives and abused children, very little research
 had been done on the domestic abuse of elderly persons. Similarly, a
 large number of evaluations have been conducted on the effectiveness
 of domestic violence programs in general, but little research had been
 undertaken on the effectiveness of elder abuse programs and of various
 types of interventions for elder abuse. This project consisted of an
 evaluation of an elder abuse program run by the New York Police
 Department and Victim Services Research. The focus of the study was
 domestic elder abuse, which generally refers to any of several forms
 of maltreatment, physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse,
 neglect, and/or financial exploitation of an older person. The
 program, conducted in New York City public housing, had two
 complementary parts. The community-level component provided education
 through leaflets and posters to all elderly residents of housing
 projects that were targeted to receive educational materials about
 elder abuse. In the individual-level component, crisis response teams
 (each consisting of a police officer and a social worker) were
 dispatched to randomly-selected residents to follow up on the initial
 patrol response to elder abuse reports and to link elder abuse victims
 and abusers to long-term social services. The intent of the two
 interventions was to improve the victim's awareness and use of
 resources, the victim's knowledge of elder abuse, and the willingness
 of victims to call the police. The theory behind the interventions
 posited that, through the provision of information and the impression
 of increased police surveillance, a reduction in repeat victimization
 would be observed. This reduction of repeat victimization and the
 provision of supportive services were expected to have an effect on
the psychological health and well-being of the victims.
description: This study employed community-level and
 individual-level interventions combined in a nested randomized
 experimental design. First, public housing projects in Manhattan were
 assigned to one of two levels of public education (i.e., to receive or
 not to receive educational materials about elder abuse). The public
 education intervention consisted of several components, including
 distribution of leaflets, hanging of posters, and community
 presentations. Brochures and posters describing elder abuse and giving
 phone numbers for assistance were distributed to building managers at
 the intervention sites. The managers placed the posters in lobbies,
 laundry rooms, mail areas, rental offices, and other common
 areas. Brochures were delivered to the apartments of elderly
 residents. For targeted housing projects, presentations on elder abuse
 were made at public housing tenant association meetings. The remaining
 housing projects were assigned to the control group. Once the public
 education treatment had been implemented, 403 older adult residents of
 the housing projects who reported elder abuse to the police during the
 next ten months were assigned to one of two levels of follow-up to the
 initial police response (i.e., to receive or not to receive a home
 visit) as the second part of the project. The home visit intervention
 consisted of a strong law enforcement response designed to prevent
 repeat incidents of elder abuse. A team from the Domestic Violence
 Intervention and Education Program (DVIEP), consisting of a police
 officer and a social worker, followed up on domestic violence
 complaints with a home visit within a few days of the initial patrol
 response. Cases assigned home visits received a letter and phone
 calls, which provided referral numbers and notified of an upcoming
 home visit. During the home visit, the DVIEP team discussed current
 and past abuse with victims, and provided information about elder
 abuse. The team emphasized to victims that elder abuse is a crime, and
 the team explained procedures for filing an order of protection and
 the difference between family court and criminal court. If the
 offender was present, the police officer informed the abuser that the
 household was being monitored. Four weeks after the initial home
 visit, the victim received a follow-up telephone call from the
 counselor. Each victim was given the name and telephone number of
 their local DVIEP counselor and other local Victim Services counselors
 specializing in elder abuse. The team assessed the household for
 service needs and made referrals as needed (e.g., to respite care,
 counseling programs for abusers, home care services for
 seniors). Cases not assigned to the home visit group were assigned to
 the control group. Following the usual patrol response to the elder
 abuse complaint, these cases received a generic DVIEP letter that was
 similar to the intervention group's letter but omitted information on
 elder abuse and information about the home visit. Victims were
 interviewed about new victimizations following the intervention on
 three occasions, six weeks after the trigger incident, six months
 after the trigger incident, and twelve months after the trigger
 incident. The DVIEP databases maintained on households at each of the
 three participating PSAs were searched to identify new police reports
 of elder abuse for households in the sample within 12 months following
the trigger incident.
description: Interviews at the three time points were identical
 except for the omission of background information on the second and
 third interviews. Demographic data collected during the first
 interview only included age, gender, ethnicity, education, employment,
 income, legal relationship with abuser, living situation, number of
 people in the household, and health. For each time point, data provide
 measures of physical, psychological, and financial abuse, knowledge of
 elder abuse, knowledge and use of social services, satisfaction with
 the police, assessment of service delivery, and self-esteem and
 well-being. The DVIEP databases maintained on households at each of
 the three participating Police Service Areas (PSAs) were searched to
 identify new police reports of elder abuse for households in the
 sample within 12 months following the trigger incident. Variables from
 the DVIEP databases include age, race, ethnicity, and sex of the
 victim and the perpetrator, relationship of perpetrator to victim,
 type of abuse reported, charge, whether an arrest was made, if an
 order of protection had been obtained, if the order of protection was
 violated, use of weapons, if the victim had been injured, and if the
 victim was taken to the hospital. Several time lapse variables between
different time points are also provided.
description: Response Rates: The completion rate with victims was 67 percent
 for the first interview, 69 percent for the second interview, and 67
 percent for the third interview. Between one-third and one-half of
 researchers' attempts to interview the victims failed due to victim
 refusals. The refusal rate for victims was 11 percent for the first
 interview, 14 percent for the second interview, and 14 percent for the
 third interview. Three percent of the sample was lost because of
 out-of-town moves and 2 percent due to death and illness. The
 remainder of those not interviewed could not be contacted by telephone
or visits to their homes.
description: Presence of Common Scales: To assess history of violence and frequency and severity
 of violence, this project used a variant of the Conflict Tactics Scale
 (Straus, 1979) adapted by Pillemer and Finkelhor (1988) in their elder
 abuse research. To measure knowledge and the use of social services,
 the researchers adapted a scale used in their earlier research (Davis
 and Taylor, 1997). The project used the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale
 (Rosenberg, 1979) to gauge self-perceptions of victims. The Bradburn
 Affect-Balance Scale was administered to tap the affective status of
 the victims in the sample. A Likert-type scale was also used for the
questions on public education.
description: Nested randomized experimental design using dual sampling
frames.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Effectiveness of a Joint Police and Social Services Response to Elder Abuse in Manhattan [New York City], New York, 1996-1997
description: Elderly residents of housing projects in Manhattan.