Briony Dow (Associate Professor of Ageing and Director of the National Ageing Research Institute at the University of Melbourne) has written a short report for the Australian Institute of Family Studies on family elder abuse: Why are we abusing our parents? The ugly facts of family violence and ageism.
Dow argues that there is little public awareness of the extent and nature of elder abuse, which means that it is rarely recognised even by those who may be perpetrating or experiencing it. This form of family violence has the added complication of parental feelings coupled with shame and guilt for having “failed” as a parent, which often stop the parent from seeking help and protecting themselves. Ageism is a contributing factor as well.
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