In 2019, three employees from an assisted living facility in North Carolina were accused of elderly abuse. They were accused of “allowing elderly residents to fight one another, encouraging them to fight, and in one case, assaulting a resident”(Holcombe 2019). According to the police, one of the employees “physically shoved a resident”(Holcombe 2019). The employees involved were immediately fired. These three employees were arrested and charged for the incident. Two of the employees were charged for “assault on an individual with a disability”(Holcombe 2019) and the other employee was charged for “two counts of the same charge”(Holcombe 2019). Luckily there were no injuries reported. The Danby House, where the incident took place has a “‘zero-tolerance policy for mistreatment'”(Holcombe 2019) for those in their care.
This article relates to the elderly abuse section in chapter 6. Elderly abuse can be physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, neglection, or financial exploitation. According to the powerpoint, “at least 10 percent of older Americans have suffered at least one form of abuse, amounting to hundreds of thousands of cases annually”. Because of their ages and the stereotypes put around them, the elderly are often taken advantage of. The elderly have received many negative stereotypes over the years. They are seen as old, weak, disabled, blind, deaf, and the list continues. Because of these many stereotypes, the elderly population is seen as easy to be take advantage of. Whether it be abuse or financial situations. The elderly have received negative stereotypes. The elderly people involved in this situation were not named, but sadly they became victims of elderly abuse. Care takers allowed and encouraged physical violence. Luckily in this situation there were no reported injuries, but it could’ve been worse.
From this article, and this weeks material, I learned the elderly can be taken advantage of in many different types of situations. In this case, it just happened to be physical elderly abuse. The term ‘fight club’ was used by someone to describe this incident. Personally, I find it very sad that people take advantage of the elderly. Elderly people often go to assisted living facilities to get help, to feel safe, and to be cared for and they can be taken advantage of like this, it’s sad to think about. If you hear about places that abuse the elderly, you wouldn’t want anyone you know to go there. Finding an assisted living space for someone you know can be difficult for reasons like this.
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https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/15/us/elder-abuse-assisted-living-encouraging-fighting/index.html
Sociology 201 