Working with Abused Older Women from a Feminist Perspective

SUMMARY

Domestic violence in older families is often referred to not as family violence but as elder abuse. This chapter will begin by discussing how perceptions of this type of violence impact informal and formal interventions. The prevalence and etiology of domestic violence are described, along with how the joint forces of ageism and sexism affect older female victims. National, state, and local efforts to prevent and remediate the abuse of older women are also covered. In conclusion, the author presents implications for working with groups and individual abused older women from a feminist perspective.     

Working with abused older women from a feminist perspective

Domestic violence in older families is often referred to not as family violence but as elder abuse. This chapter will begin by discussing how perceptions of this type of violence impact informal and formal interventions. The prevalence and etiology of domestic violence are described, along with how the joint forces of ageism and sexism affect older female victims. National, state, and local efforts to prevent and remediate the abuse of older women are also covered. In conclusion, the author presents implications for working with groups and individual abused older women from a feminist perspective.     

Battered gay men: an exploration of abuse, help seeking, and why they stay

In comparison to a large body of literature about battered heterosexual women and a growing body about battered lesbians, this is one of the first published studies that investigates the experiences of battered gay and bisexual men. Results indicated that these men suffered patterns, forms, and frequencies of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse similar to what has been documented by research on battered heterosexual and lesbian women. Likewise, the most commonly reported reasons for staying--namely, hope for change and love for partner--appear to be universal to the experience of being battered. Unlike battered heterosexual women, respondents in this study were not likely to report that being financially trapped was a major reason why they had remained. HIV-status, however, appears to significantly influence their decision to remain. Moreover, lack of knowledge about domestic violence and the lack of availability of appropriate resources play a significant role in same-gender domestic violence victims' decisions to remain. Like battered lesbians, battered gay men infrequently sought assistance from battered women's services and perceived these services as not helpful. By contrast, individual counselors and agencies who provided individual counselors were rated as quite helpful.     

Subjective Realities of Rural Older Women's Lives: A Case Study

SUMMARY

This paper presents and analyzes the subjective reality of a single older rural woman through her telling of her life story and open-ended interviews. This case study is used to demonstrate how a rural woman experiences a positive life experience while living with poverty, poor health, and numerous challenges and losses. The case was selected from the multiphase Rural Older Women's Project completed in rural Minnesota in 1986 and 1987. This representation shows the respondent living her later life and adjusting to old age in the same ways she has always faced life's challenges–with stoicism and tenacity, as well as patience and good humor. In the telling of her life story we recognize key values of rural older women including independence and privacy, balanced with a clear sense of the importance of relationships with others, and a closeness to the land. The views of informal and formal systems of service delivery arc discussed and implications explored for the development of formal services which will more effectively meet the needs of rural older women.     

Older Women and the Health Care System: A Time for Change

SUMMARY

In spite of women's active involvement in a woman's health care movement, the mainline health care system continues to hold tight to its androcentric focus. If women are to be subjected to a health care system that employs sexist and ageist practices, the quality of life in their later years will continue to be jeopardized. The purpose of this paper is to first, recognize the existing health care practices which limit the health care opportunities and choices of older women; and secondly, to discuss how such basic feminist principles as education, egalitarianism, empowerment, and inclusion can be used to improve an older woman's experience.     

Korean Older Intimate Partner Violence Survivors in North America: Cultural Considerations and Practice Recommendations

While literature on elder abuse has expanded, elder abuse by intimate partners has been less investigated. Even less is known about intimate partner violence among older Koreans living in North America. This article identifies important cultural considerations for individuals helping the Korean older adult community, beginning with the definition of intimate partner violence in this community and barriers to leaving that include traditional views of the East Asian self. Current practice interventions are discussed and recommendations for future practice such as healing han, the accumulated suffering from years of abuse, are suggested. The ultimate goal of this paper is to expand awareness in order to develop the best culturally competent prevention and intervention practice for Korean older intimate partner violence survivors in North America.     

The Social Value of "Physiological Autonomy":

This paper examines the experience of incontinence and continence as described by twelve communitydwelling older women. Variation in these experiences is vitiated when the dichotomy of continentlincontinent is imposed as the most appropriate "symbolic ordering" for the experience. Loss of bladder control, what older women called "leaking," may be treated analytically as a particular kind of unrestrained behavior that interferes with "physiological autonomy." Thus incontinence poses real and symbolic challenges to the older woman's status as an adult.     

The Raging Grannies: Defying Stereotypes and Embracing Aging Through Activism

The Raging Grannies are a group of older women who dress as “grannies” and alter the words of traditional songs to communicate political messages. Based on a review of song lyrics, participant observation, and interviews with 15 Grannies, this study explores Raging Granny activism and the strategic adoption of the grandmother identity. The Grannies challenge stereotypes of older women through the fact and forms of their activism, and they see their aged status as empowering and as something to be embraced. Grannies report that the grandmother identity serves a protective function and enhances movement efficacy. This case study adds to the sparse literature on older women's political activism and demonstrates that identity exploration is not restricted to youth-centered movements.     

Sex and Gender Implications in Cases of Elder Abuse

This paper focuses on caregiving which has failed. Although little attention has been given to the role of sex and gender in elder abuse, an analysis of 77 cases of elder abuse seen in the Detroit area in 1981 revealed that both factors play a role in generating elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation, or in determining its form. Gender issues included: patterns of spouse abuse in old a e; gender differences in the types of abuse/neglect/exploitation wfich were perpetrated; gender concerns of the abuser which generate abuse; and sex or gender discrimination as a type of abuse of the elderly. Sexual factors observed included: parent-child incest; marital rape in old age; and problems of sexual malfunction which helped to generate the abuse. Suggestions for improved professional identification and management of elder abuse cases are made.     

The Older Woman Sexually Abused as a Child:

It is estimated that 3 112 million women over the age of 60 endured sexual abuse as children, yet little is known of their experience. The effects of that experience can be devastating for women of any age, but may have particular consequences for older women. This paper selectively reviews what is known about sexual abuse for younger women. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is suggested as a model for describing the effects of childhood sexual abuse on older women. Based on a review of the literature and examination of the model, possible consequences of childhood sexual abuse for older women are suggested. It is suggested that child sexual abuse may pose special problems for older women struggling with common aging themes such as dependency and caregiving, life review, and grieving. Finally, implications for clinical practice are offered.     

Determinants Of Cumulative Fertility In Ghana

The relatively few studies conducted on fertility differentials in Ghana have not controlled for the effect of important demographic variables, such as age at first marriage and current age of respondent. This paper attempts a multivariate analysis of the relationship between cumulative fertility and age at first marriage, level of education, religion, form of marriage and residence of husband. Data drawn from a census sample survey in 1971 include 72,816 currently married females aged 15–49 years. Age at first marriage was inversely related to cumulative fertility. The differentials were more pronounced for older women. Among the older women, the differentials were larger for rural than urban women. There were also significant fertility differentials associated with level of education, religion and form of marriage. Husband’s residence was a poor predictor of cumulative fertility. As a policy measure, it is suggested that priority be given to providing young women with more education or employment opportunities as an alternative to early marriage.     

虐待老人问题的跨文化研究

虐待老人作为一个世界性社会问题 ,由于其与不同社会文化背景紧密相联 ,所以不同国家对之有不同理解。本文结合国外虐待老人问题的研究成果 ,从中华民族伦理传统入手 ,着重分析了我国虐待老人行为中施虐者与受虐者之间特殊的心理矛盾 ,并提出为照料者和受虐老人提供支持的方法     

Risk factors of severity of abuse against older women in the home setting: A multinational European study

ABSTRACT

This article examines the ecological risk factors of abuse against older women. Data from 2,880 older women were randomly collected in five European countries (Austria, Belgium, Finland, Lithuania, and Portugal) using a standardized questionnaire. Results indicate that overall 30.1 % older women had at least one experience of abuse in the past year. The findings demonstrate that a single emphasis on personal risk factors (e.g., health, coping) is important but too simple: Abuse is multifaceted and is embedded in environmental (e.g., loneliness, household income) as well as macrocultural contexts (e.g., old age dependency ratio).     

Broadening the scope of ageing femininities on TV: the evolution of the older woman in two contemporary Catalan soap operas

The older woman has been an unacknowledged character in fiction up until recently, when it has become the focus of some studies in the interconnected fields of literary and cultural gerontology. Given their popularity, TV shows are especially powerful in the propagation of images of any form of identity; accordingly, they can be regarded as an interesting and highly effective artistic and socio cultural vehicle through which representations of old people and of old women in particular can be analysed and discussed. Despite the success of The Golden Girls in the 80s and the exponential ageing of the baby-boom generation, TV series have also continued to depict older female characters as either motherly figures, always looking after their families at any cost, or as devilish older women characterised by inappropriate sexualised appearance and sexual behaviour. In contrast to this predominant tendency, Six Feet Under (2001–2005) stands out as a significant exception. In this article, we argue that Six Feet Under is innovative in presenting the older woman through the central character of Ruth Fisher (Francis Connor) and through the interaction of Ruth Fisher with other women within her same generation which face ageing from different perspectives.     

Care Arrangement Choices for Older Widows: Decision Participants' Perspectives

SUMMARY

This research examines how a wide range of care arrangement decisions for frail older women are made. Interviews were conducted with 11 older women (ten of whom are widows), nine of their family members, and six professional service providers. Maintaining the older woman's independence was identified as a major theme. While all decision participants identified it as an explicit or implicit decision-making goal, their meanings of independence were different. The older women's meanings were flexible, changing in response to changes in their physical condition and need for assistance. Adult children tended to identify their mothers as independent when they did not actually need assistance, or when they received help from other sources (e.g., home health care). Professional service providers were inclined to define independence narrowly, as avoiding nursing home placement. Minor themes associated with independence include responsibility, reciprocity, and the family's importance in maintaining independence. These themes help to clarify the complex dynamics that take place during care arrangement decisions and explain how care arrangement choices are made.     

Exploring routine hospital antenatal care consultations — An ethnographic study

Background

Listening to women as part of their antenatal care has been recognized as valuable in understanding the woman’s needs. Conversations as part of routine antenatal interactions offer ideal opportunities for women to express themselves and for midwives to learn about the woman’s issues and concerns. The antenatal visit and the convention of antenatal consultations for midwives have not been well explored or defined and much of what takes place replicate medical consultative processes. As a consequence, there is little to assist midwives construct woman-centred care consultations for their routine antenatal care practice. This study showed how some practices were better in promoting the woman’s voice and woman-centred care in the hospital setting.

Supporting women to achieve breastfeeding to six months postpartum – The theoretical foundations of a successful program

BackgroundAlthough the benefits of breastfeeding to six months are well-established, only about half of Australian women succeed. The factors associated with successful breastfeeding are rarely translated into effective interventions. A new educational and support program, called the Milky Way program has been demonstrated to be effective in supporting women to achieve prolonged breastfeeding. In the Milky Way program, breastfeeding is considered an embodied performance which requires an engaged combination of body, mind and spirit. This paper aims to explain how the two theories that informed the program were used to better enable women's long term breastfeeding success.MethodThe theory of self-efficacy is first described as a way to develop women's cognitive processes to organise and execute the course of actions to breastfeed for a longer period of time. Birth territory theory is then presented. This theory discusses women as embodied selves; an essential concept for breastfeeding success. Birth territory theory also describes the effects of the holistic environment on the woman and explores the effects of power that is used in the environment. This power can be used integratively to strengthen the woman's breastfeeding confidence and success or, disintergratively which reduces her confidence and undermines her success.ConclusionStrategies based on self-efficacy theory are helpful, but are not sufficient to promote breastfeeding to six months. Health educators also need to foster the woman's connection to, and trust in, her body and her baby's body to breastfeed spontaneously. Being aware of environmental impacts on how the woman and baby breastfeed; and using one's own power integratively is crucial to women being able to achieve prolonged breastfeeding.     

The Emotional Significance of Affective Inequalities and Why They Are Important to Women in Old Age

Affective inequality is neglected in the study of old age. Using an egalitarian analysis, this article shows how affective inequalities matter to older women. Findings from the first author's PhD study explain the emotional significance of affective inequalities for Irish women. Twenty-one in-depth interviews were conducted to obtain data about experiences and perceptions of inequalities and how they had an impact on older women's well-being. Thematic analysis revealed that women experienced inequalities in old age as devaluation, obligations, exclusion, and misrecognition (DOEM), and they experienced injustices in areas of their lives that were largely outside of their control. Affective inequality implications are discussed.