Domestic elder abuse in Japanese context : Concerning hale elderly women who are not in need of nursing care
KOMIYA, NAOKO (2006)
2006
Sosiaalipolitiikka - Social Policy
Yhteiskuntatieteellinen tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2006-11-29
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:uta-1-16266
https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:uta-1-16266
Tiivistelmä
The main purpose of this study is to describe the situation of domestic elder abuse in Japanese context, concerning elderly women who are not in need of nursing care. The aim of the study is to appeal the importance of paying enough attention to the elder abuse cases concerning elderly who are not in need of nursing care.
The social interest on elder abuse is recently rising. However, most of the past researches on elder abuse are made concerning elderly people who are in need of nursing care (hereafter called hale elderly). If the phenomenon is called ‘elder abuse’, it should comprehend all abuse cases, no matter where they happen or who is concerned. It is strongly argued that the elderly in need of care do not have ample physical and mental strength to inform anywhere of abuse cases, which means the cases are often hidden. Hale elderly people, though, are capable of expressing their feelings themselves. Therefore, paying more attention to hale elderly, it will link up with the prevention for elder abuse.
The data for this study is consisted of five interviews and the data is analyzed by using of the content analysis methodology. Throughout this study, the cultural and social backgrounds are taken into consideration especially the Japanese traditional family system. The research method is qualitative content analysis.
The main finding of this study is that the visible societal change (e.g. economical growth, technological development) is not necessarily proportional with the invisible societal change, i.e. people’s mentality. The discrepancy among the societal change is a remarkable factor of elder abuse as a whole. Concerning the definition of elder abuse, no category of neglect and sexual abuse was not found whereas the categories exist concerning the case of elderly in need of nursing care.
This study gives a different angle on elder abuse and it gives a notice of importance to pay attention to the existence of hale elderly people.
Key words: elder abuse, hale, elderly women, family relation, ageism, tradition, Japanese society.
The social interest on elder abuse is recently rising. However, most of the past researches on elder abuse are made concerning elderly people who are in need of nursing care (hereafter called hale elderly). If the phenomenon is called ‘elder abuse’, it should comprehend all abuse cases, no matter where they happen or who is concerned. It is strongly argued that the elderly in need of care do not have ample physical and mental strength to inform anywhere of abuse cases, which means the cases are often hidden. Hale elderly people, though, are capable of expressing their feelings themselves. Therefore, paying more attention to hale elderly, it will link up with the prevention for elder abuse.
The data for this study is consisted of five interviews and the data is analyzed by using of the content analysis methodology. Throughout this study, the cultural and social backgrounds are taken into consideration especially the Japanese traditional family system. The research method is qualitative content analysis.
The main finding of this study is that the visible societal change (e.g. economical growth, technological development) is not necessarily proportional with the invisible societal change, i.e. people’s mentality. The discrepancy among the societal change is a remarkable factor of elder abuse as a whole. Concerning the definition of elder abuse, no category of neglect and sexual abuse was not found whereas the categories exist concerning the case of elderly in need of nursing care.
This study gives a different angle on elder abuse and it gives a notice of importance to pay attention to the existence of hale elderly people.
Key words: elder abuse, hale, elderly women, family relation, ageism, tradition, Japanese society.