Abuse of Older Adults:
Department of Justice Canada Overview Paper

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How Widespread Is Abuse of Older Adults in Canada?¹⁴

This section provides key data on abuse of older adults in Canada. For an overview of reporting and disclosure issues and descriptions of key data sources on family violence, please see the “Reporting and Disclosure Issues” and the “National Studies, Surveys and Other Data Sources on Family Violence in Canada” sections of the Family Violence overview paper.

Key Data

Abuse of older adults

• According to the 1999 General Social Survey on Victimization: Approximately 7 percent of the sample of more than 4,000 adults 65 years of age and older reported that they had experienced some form of emotional or financial abuse by an adult child, spouse or caregiver in the five years prior to the survey, with most committed by spouses. Emotional abuse was more often reported (7 percent) than financial abuse (1 percent). Only a small proportion of older adults (1 percent) reported experiencing physical or sexual abuse.¹⁵
• According to the 2004 General Social Survey, older adults were less likely than younger adults to experience spousal violence. Less than one percent of all older adults with a current or previous spouse reported experiencing any type of violence by a partner in the 12 months preceding the survey, compared to two percent of those under the age of 65. Older adults were also least likely to report emotional or financial abuse: approximately eight percent of older adults with a current or previous spouse reported experiencing emotional or financial abuse in the five years preceding the survey, compared to 13 percent of those ages 55 to 64, and 31 percent of those in the youngest age group (15 to 24).¹⁶

According to data compiled from 149 police services, in 2006:

• A total of 6,033 incidents of violence against older adults were reported. Family members were the accused in 34 percent of these incidents.¹⁷
• Older adult victims of family-related violence were more likely to report being victimized by an adult child (32 percent) or current or former spouse (30 percent).¹⁸
• Among older adult victims of family-related violence, more than half (53 percent) of both male and female victims experienced common assault. About 20 percent experienced threats, and 14 percent experienced major assault.¹⁹

According to data compiled from 122 police services, in 2003:

• Most of the accused in family-related assaults against older adults were male family members (78 percent), including adult male children (33 percent), male spouses (current and former) (30 percent), and male members of the extended family, including uncles, brothers-in-law and brothers (15 percent).²⁰

Homicides committed by family members against older adults

According to police-reported homicide data:

In 2006:

• A total of 30 homicides²¹ were committed against older adults (18 males and 12 females) with one-half of the solved homicides against older adults committed by a family member.²²

Between 1974 and 2000:

• Older adult homicides committed by family members were most likely to be committed by spouses (39 percent), adult children (37 percent) or extended family members (24 percent).²³

Family-related homicide-suicides involving older adults

Between 1961 and 2003:

• There were 109 familial homicide-suicides involving those over the age of 65. The perpetrators included spouses (65 percent), sons or stepsons (21 percent), daughters (2 percent), brothers (2 percent) and other family members (10 percent).²⁴

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What Factors Play a Role in Abuse of Older Adults?

This section describes some of the factors that contribute to abuse of older adults. For an overview of the dynamics and causes of family violence and the experience of vulnerable groups, including Aboriginal peoples, please see the “What Factors Contribute to Family Violence?” section of the Family Violence overview paper.

Gender

The national data on incidents of abuse and assault provide the following information about gender:

According to police-reported data, in 2006:

• The proportion of older female victims (45 percent) who were victimized by a family member was almost twice that of older male victims (25 percent).²⁷
• Older women victims were more likely than older men victims to be victimized by a spouse or ex-spouse (35 percent versus 21 percent). However, older men were more likely than their female counterparts to be victimized by an adult child (34 percent versus 31 percent), or by other family members (45 percent versus 34 percent).²⁸

Data on homicide and homicide-suicides against older adults indicate that older women are also more likely than older men to be killed by a family member.

• Between 1996 and 2005, 63 percent of older women victims in solved homicides were killed by a family member,²⁹ most often by a spouse (40 percent) or an adult son (34 percent).³⁰
• Between 1974 and 2000, older women were at higher risk of spousal homicide than older men. More than half (52 percent) of the older women victims of family homicide were killed by their spouses, compared with one-quarter (25 percent) of older male victims.³¹
• Between 1961 and 2003, most (94 percent) spousal homicide-suicide victims aged 65 and over were women.³²

Past history of abuse

Some researchers have suggested that spousal abuse among older adults is a continuation of a long-standing pattern of spousal abuse, or “spouse abuse grown old.”³³ Homicide data from 1996 to 2005 provide some support for this theory:

• Between 1996 and 2005, 41 percent of individuals accused of committing a homicide against an older adult family member had a history of family violence with that victim.³⁴

Dependency

Police-reported data for 2003 may provide some support for the theory that dependency issues between adult children and aging parents is a factor in abuse.

• In 2003, about 8 out of 10 older victims of family violence were assaulted by an adult child with whom they were living.³⁵

Frustration, anger or despair

Between 1997 and 2006, police-reported data shows that homicides committed by family members against older adults (65 years and older) are primarily motivated out of frustration, anger or despair (34%) followed by an argument (29%).³⁶

Psychological or mental factors

Since 1997, police services have reported on the presence of a mental or developmental disorder (e.g., schizophrenia, dementia or developmental delays) in homicide-related incidents. According to data from the Homicide Survey, half (50 percent) of family members accused of killing an older adult in 2005 were suspected to have been suffering from a psychological or developmental disorder.³⁷

Environmental and systemic factors

In caregiving environments and systems, many factors affect older adults’ vulnerability to abuse.³⁸ Institutions may be situated far from residents’ home communities, and they may not provide residents with access to community or traditional activities, including traditional food and language.³⁹ Care providers who are inadequately trained may lack the awareness, knowledge or skills to address or to avoid engaging in abusive behaviour. High levels of staff stress and burnout may contribute to abuse. Institutions may have procedures and policies that do not adequately protect against harmful situations, or they may poorly enforce institutional standards. At the systemic level, there may be a lack of comprehensive policies for dealing with the infirm. Some researchers express concern that built-in financial incentives in the long-term care system may contribute to poor quality care.⁴⁰

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