The Socio-Cultural Implications Of Emotional Abuse On Elderly Population

Task 1A

There are a varied range of external and internal factors in the society that affect the overall health and wellbeing of the individuals belonging to a societal community. However, among these range of different factors, there a few that demand immediate attention of the concerned authorities. Abuse and its consequences can be considered one of those factors that influence the health and wellbeing of a community affectively. It has to be understood that abuse does not just affect the victim physically; the lingering effect of the abuse is ever-present in the psych of the victim for years to come (Ecclestone and Goodley 2012).

As mentioned above, there are various kinds of abuse, and each one of them has had a differential yet significant impact on the health and wellbeing of the community as well as the members of the said community. Apart from physical abuse another very important kind of abuse is the emotional kind, which has a very similar impact on the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the victim if not more (Manthorpe and Stevens 2015). This assignment will focus on the different aspects associated with emotional abuse on older men and women, taking the help of a case study.

Question 1: 

In the case study selected for this assignment, an 82 year old woman named Bridget had been living alone in her own cottage and had been suffering with alcoholism. Along with that the subjective data from the case study also indicates at the extreme fall risk for Bridget and the fact that she had been frequently admitted to the hospital due to multiple occurrences of fall and alcohol problems. However, another alarming fact that has to be highlighted in this context that Bridget had a tenant named Mr. Y, who rented the lower floor of her cottage. Now one of the key concerns with this case study is the fact that Bridget had been suffering with extreme emotional abuse at the hands of Mr Y. Now a few essential factors regarding Mr Y that needs to be accounted for when discussing the emotional abuse that Bridget underwent, is the fact that Mr Y had been volatile throughout in his behaviour and has interrupted with the health care procedure for Bridget as well post her fall and alcoholism concern (Coppock and McGovern 2014).

Emotional abuse can be defined as the phenomenon of the abuse victim being subjected or exposed to psychological trauma due to actions or behaviours that are potentially psychologically harmful. It has to be mentioned in this context that the implications for emotional abuse is vast in this society, one contributing factor to that may be the fact that the signs of physical abuse is much more conspicuous in the society, where as the effects of mental abuse is not very clearly recognized. Another very important factor can be the fact that the emotional abuse victims often consider themselves responsible for the abuse they go through, restricting the chances of the abuse becoming reported further. When discussing the factors that r responsible behind the chances of individuals like Bridget getting controlled and abused, is this self loathing or lack of self worth (Khan et al., 2016).

Task 1A Question 1

Elaborating more on the risk factors that facilitate instances of such emotional abuse include the implications of social isolation and loneliness. It has to be understood that, as per the case study, Bridget had been living alone in a house, and with her health related complications like multiple injurious falls and alcoholism, she had no one to care for her or provide mental support. Hence, the increased loneliness and hopelessness might have been another factor that contributed to Bridget being so easily drawn to the controlling and persuading nature of Mr. Y. Lastly it needs to be mentioned that for the case represented by Bridget, she had been an alcoholic and had been reprocessing from the alcoholism as indicated by the frequent hospital visits that the patient under consideration has been suffering made it much easier for Mr Y to manipulate her. It has to be considered that for the elderly population living with the emotional support and companionship, the urge to alcoholism is not very uncommon (Power, Smith and Trestman 2016). And these vulnerabilities which are more accentuated and enhanced by the alcoholism and the resultant deteriorating health conditions, facilitate the chances of these women becoming the susceptible victims to emotional abuse.

Question 2:

There are several factors that can lead to emotional abuse to the victims, and these risk factors associated with various external and internal variables within the societal structure. It has to be considered that psychological abuse on emotional abuse is a broad umbrella term that encompasses a lot of intricate behavioral segments that proper the emotional abuse victim towards self hate and self loathing. Elaborating further, they can be social family emotional or individual risk factors that can contribute to the instances of emotional abuse for any victim. Considering the individual risk factors there can be personal disabilities, physical or mental illness, behavioral flaws, attention seeking disorders and many more. How everything is risk factors are dynamic and the assortment of risk factors escalating to an emotional abuse can change from person to person going through different kinds of situations and being in different type of mental state (Breines and Ayduk 2015).

For instance, as represented in the case study, there is a considerable assortment of risk factors that contributed to the emotional abuse the 82 year old woman received on the hands of a tenant. Elaborating more, it has to be considered that Bridge yet had been a weirdo who was living on her own in her Cottage. Despite having a brother she has been living completely alone isolated from the rest of the society, which can be significant contributing factor to the societal helplessness and acute loneliness that she had been suffering with. With old age the concept of emotional dependence increases multiple folds due to the extreme physical restrictions and deteriorating health. Along with that, another very important risk factors associated with the case study had been the fact that the patient had been  years old, in this last few years of life companionship and familial support are the two key factors that help the frail elderly person go through every single day (Schilpzand, Leavitt and Lim 2016). However in this case, Bridget had no one to share her woes with or provide her mental and emotional support, which is the very possible risk factor that propelled her to alcohol and exposed her vulnerabilities to her tenant which resulted into the controlling exploitation and emotional abuse.

Task 1A Question 2

Lastly, another risk factor that deserves attention in this context is the fact with older age and isolation, the fear of death becomes more and more overpowering and clouds the sane decision making power of an individual. Hence in this phase, a human being is in desperate need of emotional support and companionship and support, as Bridget had none, she inevitably became4 more vulnerable to the emotional abuse and exploitation of Mr Y.

Question 3: 

Considering the social and cultural implications of emotional abuse, the very first element within the context of the case study that deserves attention is the prevalent data on rising percentage of different kinds of abuse on Women. According to the recent data, the percentage of women suffering with abuse is rising alarmingly and the present statistics state that 43% of the female population are suffering with some or the other kind of abuse, out of which 32% have been reported as abusive behaviours and 35% refers to controlling behaviour and emotional abuse. The societal discrimination and domination that rules the still patriarchal society is one of the most influential contributing factors that indicate at the rising rate of abuse on women, both physical and emotional (Norman et al., 2012). The context of abuse on women in the society is often not taken with as seriousness as it demands and the casual handling of the situation further complicate the process of the abused women to come forward and seek justice.

Further, when discussing the socio-cultural factors contributing to instances of abuse, the societal outlook for estranged women and the societal isolation they are subjected to should not escape notice. It has to be understood that there are still some restricted pattern in the society and anything out of the boundary of those patterns are not entertained by the majority of the society. According to the many of the authors, the societal isolation or discrimination against single or widowed women with any kind of addiction is very much the equivalent to the push towards extreme depression, self loathing and further addiction dependence for the victim. For instance, as per the case study, Bridget had been a widow with alcohol addiction, who could have been very likely isolated from the rest of the society for her lifestyle choices and that, is the reason that escalated her need for some semblance of companionship and dependence, and contributed more to her vulnerability (Bott et al., 2012).

Task 1B

Now considering the aspects of the abuser, in most cases the abusers find victims in the helpless, depressed individuals with desperate need for attention and support. In this case, Mr Y had been a temperamental man with extremely volatile behavioural patterns. In Bridget he very easily found a vulnerable victim with extreme need for attention and support and considerable property and wealth. It has to be considered, another very significant societal factor is the preconceived notion that indicates weak and vulnerable individuals the easiest of targets for abuse and the wealth that she had on her name contributed to the possibility for the abuser to choose her as the victim. It must be mentioned in this context that considerable wealth with no next of kin to claim is another very important risk factors for abuse, be it physical or psychological. According to the authors, it is very easy for the abusers to exploit the victims and lure them to their own self destruction while manipulating them to think of it as their own faults, all the while claiming a large proportion of wealth that could have supported the victim lead his or her life otherwise (Carney and Barner 2012). Hence, there is extreme need for safeguarding the best interests of the group of vulnerable victims dealing with extreme societal isolation and need for attention, so that the weak and flailing should not be taken advantage of.

Question 4:

Safeguarding the vulnerable adults is assisted by some laws which help in taking care of the vulnerable adults. This process involves the identification of the adults those who are vulnerable. In this process the vulnerable adults are helped in assessing their needs, to work with them and protecting them from other harms. Vulnerable people are those who are unable in making decisions and are severely impaired. The types of the harm that are involved are violent physical or mental abuse, may be financial abuse, or institutional abuse. This vulnerability of the adults can be prevented by implementing the care act that was implemented in 2014. The care act 2014 imposes a duty on the authorities for promoting the health of the individuals while providing them care and support. According to this act the authority and the community was having the right to take care of the adult who is vulnerable. In terms of the case study that was provided the local center for healthcare is having the right for protecting the respect of an individual s well as his dignity. The author of this paper was supposed in observing the mental, physical and the emotional health of an adult (Power et al. 2016). The care act takes care about the economic and social healthcare of an individual. This act helps in promoting the social contribution of the adult. So it can be told that the care act is helping Bridget to ensure the total security. In the time of emergency, the Care Act took her to the hospital her proper treatment. For example this Act provides power to the local authority for controlling and observing the daily activities of Bridget. The local authority keeps track of Bridget’s relationships and family.

Task 1B Question 3

There is another act known as Sexual Offences Act 2003 helps Bridget so that she can get protection against violence or abuse (Khan et al. 2016). This act generally restricts that the health workers and also some other people so that they do not engage in any type of sexual activity with Bridget.

But, the biggest problem is that there are some cases where some of the vulnerable persons say that the worker who was taking care of the individual has intentionally violated the rules and regulation. In this case the Act is being used against the care worker. So, it is important to keep an eye on the health care worker and the patient. The third act known as Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 was being introduced with the goal that it will prevent the persons for working as a health care worker if he or she is unable to do their job perfectly and is not fit for the job (Coppock and McGovern, 2014). The strength of this Act depends of the fact that the Act helps in preventing the inexperienced health care providers in the task of caring of the vulnerable peoples.

According to the laws of UK, the section 127 is consists of the MHA 1983, the healthcare worker is in the responsibility of taking care of the vulnerable adults and cannot neglect or treat the patients in a bad manner. If that happens then the health care workers is called to be guilty of doing a criminal offence. The ill treatment to the patient is a serious offence. In these cases the worker is punished and sentenced to jail for five years (Manthorpe and Stevens, 2015).

The health professionals used to run the health and social care. The participation and the work of the health professionals is very necessary for running the health care organizations and care centers that provides healthcare services to the patients, such as the vulnerable peoples. Health professionals have their own duty to provide proper health care service to the patients, by addressing the details information about the patient. It is the responsibility of the health care professionals that they understand the condition of health of the patient and keeping the information of the patient very confidential (Ecclestone and Goodley, 2016). This means that the health care professional who was assigned for the treatment of the patient must not share any information to other persons. In some conditions, the health care professional may share the patient’s information if needed to some of the professionals which depends upon the condition of the requirement.    

Societal and Cultural Impacts of Emotional Abuse on Elderly Population

Conclusion

Thus it could be concluded that for the improvement of the health condition of the patients who are vulnerable. The health care provider must do their job with full attention and working for the betterment of the individuals. The vulnerability may occur in many cases due to many reasons. These can be domestic, social or at individual level. In this case the healthcare provider assists the patient for providing them with better healthcare services. An individual may also be vulnerable to the social and cultural factors, in this case the patient must be provided with proper care. So the legislations and the acts are established for providing the proper health care to the persons who are vulnerable and who needs some care. 

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