Citation

Bachman R, Lachs M, Meloy M. J. Elder Abuse Negl. 2004; 16(4): 1-24.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The purposes of this paper are twofold: (1) to provide an epidemiological assessment of the differential vulnerability that elders compared to younger victims have to injury as the result of a violent victimization perpetrated by both known and unknown offenders, and (2) to examine the factors most related to injurious outcomes for elderly victims of violence including self-protective behavior. Using robbery and physical assault data from the National Crime Victimization Survey for 1992 through 2000, this paper found that victims 65 years of age and older were much more likely to require medical care for their injuries compared to younger victims. When multivariate models were examined to predict injury, it was found the effects of verbal and/or other passive forms of self-protective behavior decreased the probability of injury for the elderly against both known and unknown offenders. When elders were attacked by strangers, the effects of physical resistance strategies also served to decrease the probability of injury. However, when the offender was known, such as a family member or a friend, the use of physical forms of resistance increased the probability of injury for elderly victims, particularly female victims.