Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-jwnkl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-13T19:12:45.206Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Shared reality of the abusive and the vulnerable: the experience of aging for parents living with abusive adult children coping with mental disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2014

Tova Band-Winterstein ,
Yael Smeloy  and
Hila Avieli
Tova Band-Winterstein*
Affiliation:
Department of Gerontology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
Yael Smeloy
Affiliation:
Department of Gerontology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
Hila Avieli
Affiliation:
Faculty of Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Tova Band-Winterstein, Assistant Professor, Tova Band-Winterstein, University of Haifa, Mt. Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel. Phone: +972-4-8288470; Fax: +972-4-8240573. Email: twinters@research.haifa.ac.il.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Increasing numbers of aging parents are finding themselves in the role of caregiver for their mentally ill adult child due to global deinstitutionalization policy. The aim of this paper is to describe the daily aging experience of parents abused by an adult child with mental disorder and the challenges confronting them in this shared reality.

Methods:

Data collection was performed through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 16 parents, followed by content analysis.

Results:

Three major themes emerged: (a) old age as a platform for parent's vulnerability facing ongoing abuse; (b) “whose needs come first?” in a shared reality of abusive and vulnerable protagonists; (c) changes in relationship dynamics.

Conclusions:

Old age becomes an arena for redefined relationships combining increased vulnerability, needs of both sides, and its impact on the well-being of the aging parents. This calls for better insights and deeper understanding in regard to intervention with such families.

Keywords

agingelder abusequalitative researchviolence
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 26 , Issue 11 , November 2014 , pp. 1917 - 1927
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Addington, J., McCleery, A. and Addington, D. (2005). Three-year outcome of family work in an early psychosis program. Schizophrenia research, 79, 107–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, P. B. and Baltes, M. M. (1990). Psychological perspectives on successful aging: the model of selective optimization with compensation. In Baltes, P. B. and Baltes, M. M. (eds.), Successful Aging: Perspectives from the Behavioral Sciences (pp. 1–34). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Binder, R. L. and McNiel, D. E. (1986). Victims and families of violent psychiatric patients. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 14, 131–139.Google Scholar
Bowen, G. A. (2008). Naturalistic inquiry and the saturation concept: a research note. Qualitative research, 8, 137–152.Google Scholar
Cook, J. A., Cohler, B. J., Pickett, S. A. and Beeler, J. A. (1997). Life-course and severe mental illness: implications for caregiving within the family of later life. Family Relations, 46, 427–436.Google Scholar
Cook, J. A., Lefley, H. P., Pickett, S. A. and Cohler, B. J. (1994). Age and family burden among parents of offspring with severe mental illness. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 64, 435–447.Google Scholar
Davis, L. J. (2009). Obsession: A History. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Dickson-Swift, V., James, E. L., Kippen, S. and Liamputtong, P. (2007). Doing sensitive research: what challenges do qualitative researchers face? Qualitative Research, 7, 327–353.Google Scholar
Elder, G. H., Jr, . (1998). The life course as developmental theory. Child Development, 69, 1–12.Google Scholar
Elder, G. H., Jr. and Giele, J. Z. (eds.). (2009). The Craft of Life Course Research. New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Gearing, R. E. (2004). Bracketing in research: a typology. Qualitative Health Research, 14, 1429–1452.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ghosh, S. and Greenberg, J. (2009). Aging fathers as caregivers to an adult son or daughter with schizophrenia: implications for practice. Psychiatric Services, 60, 982–984.Google Scholar
Green, J. and Thorogood, N. (2006). Qualitative Methods for Health Research. London, UK: Sage.Google Scholar
Greenberg, J. S., Seltzer, M. M. and Greenley, J. R. (1993). Aging parents of adults with disabilities: The gratifications and frustrations of later-life caregiving. The gerontologist, 33, 542–550.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hatfield, A. B. and Lefley, H. P. (2000). Helping elderly caregivers plan for the future care of a relative with mental illness. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 24, 103–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaufman, A. V., Scogin, F., MacNeil, G., Leeper, J. and Wimberly, J. (2010). Helping aging parents of adult children with serious mental illness. Journal of Social Service Research, 36, 445–459.Google Scholar
Kelly, T. B. and Kropf, N. P. (1995). Stigmatized and perpetual parents: older parents caring for adult children with life-long disabilities. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 24, 3–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, N. and Horrocks, C. (2010). Interviews in Qualitative Research. London, UK: Sage.Google Scholar
Lachs, M. S. and Pillemer, K. (2004). Elder abuse. Lancet, 364, 1263–1272.Google Scholar
Lachs, M. S., Williams, C., O’Brien, S., Hurst, L. and Horwitz, R. (1997). Risk factors for reported elder abuse and neglect: a nine-year observational cohort study. The Gerontologist, 37, 469–474.Google Scholar
Lefley, H. P. (2003). Changing caregiving needs as persons with schizophrenia grow older. In Cohen, C. I. (ed.), Schizophrenia into Later Life: Treatment, Research, and Policy (pp. 251–268). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.Google Scholar
Lincoln, Y. S. and Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Llewellyn, G., McConnell, D., Gething, L., Cant, R. and Kendig, H. (2010). Health status and coping strategies among older parent-carers of adults with intellectual disabilities in an Australian sample. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 31, 1176–1186.Google Scholar
Magaña, S. M., Greenberg, J. S. and Seltzer, M. M. (2004). The health and well-being of black mothers who care for their adult children with schizophrenia. Psychiatric Services, 55, 711–713.Google Scholar
Mason, J. (1996). Qualitative Researching. London, UK: Sage.Google Scholar
McGarry, J. and Arthur, A. (2001). Informal caring in late life: a qualitative study of the experiences of older carers. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 33, 182–189.Google Scholar
Monahan, J. and Steadman, H. J. (eds.) (1994). Violence and mental disorder: Developments in Risk Assessment. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Palmore, E. (1999). Ageism: Negative and Positive. New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Sadock, B. J., Kaplan, H. I. and Sadock, V. A. (2007). Kaplan & Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry: Behavioral Sciences/Clinical Psychiatry. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.Google Scholar
Saunders, J. C. (2003). Families living with severe mental illness: a literature review. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 24, 175–198.Google Scholar
Seltzer, M. M., Greenberg, J. S., Floyd, F. J., Pettee, Y. and Hong, J. (2001). Life course impacts of parenting a child with a disability. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 106, 265–286.Google Scholar
Smith, J. A., Flowers, P. and Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Theory, Method and Research. London, UK: Sage Google Scholar
Solomon, P. L., Cavanaugh, M. M. and Gelles, R. J. (2005). Family violence among adults with severe mental illness: a neglected area of research. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 6, 40–54.Google Scholar
Stein, C. H. and Wemmerus, V. A. (2001). Searching for a normal life: personal accounts of adults with schizophrenia, their parents and well-siblings. American Journal of Community Psychology, 29, 725–746.Google Scholar
Straznickas, K. A., McNiel, D. E. and Binder, R. L. (1993). Violence toward family caregivers by mentally ill relatives. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 44, 385–387.Google Scholar
Vaddadi, K. S., Gilleard, C. and Fryer, H. (2002). Abuse of carers by relatives with severe mental illness. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 48, 149–155.Google Scholar
Wolf, R. S. (1996). Understanding elder abuse and neglect. Aging, 367, 4–9.Google Scholar
World Health Organization and International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (2001). Missing Voices: The Views of Older Persons on Elder Abuse. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.Google Scholar