SOC-320-O500 Topic 7 Discussion GCU Compare and contrast elder abuse and child abuse Topic 7 DQ 2 Compare and contrast elder abuse and child abuse. What did you discover about elder abuse and child abuse that you were not aware of? Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, and Elder Abuse

SOC-320-O500 Topic 7 Discussion GCU Compare and contrast elder abuse and child abuse Topic 7 DQ 2 Compare and contrast elder abuse and child abuse. What did you discover about elder abuse and child abuse that you were not aware of? Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, and Elder Abuse

Domestic violence, child abuse, and elder abuse are prevalent national public health issues in the United States.  Nearly all healthcare providers encounter cases of all or any of these issues in clinical practice (Herrenkohl et al., 2022). Domestic violence involves physical, sexual, stalking, or psychological aggression. Child abuse entails physical, emotional, and sexual aggression, or neglect of a child by a custodian, parent, or caregiver that leads to possible injury, actual injury, or threat to injury. Elder abuse characterizes a failure to take action or deliberate action by a caretaker that leads to or enhances the potential of harm to an elderly person (Herrenkohl et al., 2022).

The characteristics that could lead a provider to suspect domestic violence include physical injuries and bruises in a patient that do not match the grounds for medical issues (Sharma & Schroff, 2020). The suspected domestic abuser could also possess some characteristics such as being controlling, suspicious, jealous, and possessive. Child abuse can be suspected when a child shows improper behaviors such as withdrawal, aggression, ineffective communication skills, and shyness. Child abuse can also be suspected if a child is untidy, underweight, and seems to overeat while at school. An abused child can also demonstrate psychological symptoms such as fatigue, depression, or anxiety. They may also present with injuries such as bruises, fractures, internal bleeding, and contusions (Sharma & Schroff, 2020). Characteristics of elderly abuse include physical harm such as bruises and scratches on the body, psychological symptoms such as anxiety and depression, and financial abuse where a substantial amount of money is paid to a single family member (Sharma & Schroff, 2020).

My facility’s procedure for reporting these types of abuse includes informing the physician and the mandated reporter in the social work office. The mandated reporter then notifies the appropriate authorities and ensures that abusers are held liable for their actions (Liu & Vaughn, 2019). The victims are then subjected to counseling services due to the trauma they experienced during the ordeal.

References

Herrenkohl, T. I., Fedina, L., Roberto, K. A., Raquet, K. L., Hu, R. X., Rousson, A. N., & Mason, W. A. (2022). Child maltreatment, youth violence, intimate partner violence, and elder mistreatment: A review and theoretical analysis of research on violence across the life course. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 23(1), 314-328. DOI: 10.1177/1524838020939119

Liu, B. C. C., & Vaughn, M. S. (2019). Legal and policy issues from the United States and internationally about mandatory reporting of child abuse. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 64, 219-229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2019.03.007

Sharma, P., & Schroff, S. (2020). Domestic Viol