Domestic abuse and older people: factors influencing help-seeking
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JAP-03-2017-0010 |
| Date | 09 October 2017 |
| Published date | 09 October 2017 |
| Pages | 247-260 |
| Author | Sarah Wydall,Rebecca Zerk |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Adult protection,Safeguarding,Sociology,Sociology of the family,Abuse |
Domestic abuse and older people: factors
influencing help-seeking
Sarah Wydall and Rebecca Zerk
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore professionals’perceptions of the barriers to help-seeking
for victim-survivors of domestic abuse aged 60 years and over. Help-seeking as defined by Anderson and
Saunders (2003) is not a single act or decision, but a complex and continuous process, victims engage in
when seeking support.
Design/methodology/approach –A total of 50 qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with
statutory practitioners and managers from 21 out of 22 local authorities in Wales. The research team worked
collaboratively to produce a coding scheme which was subjected to a systematic coding exercise using the
software package NVivo.
Findings –Professionals believed that older people’s“interconnectedness”with family, social
embeddedness in the community and “meanings of the home”influenced help-seeking. The research
suggests that for older victim-survivors of domestic abuse, age discrimination by practitioners, compounds
older people’s experiences of help-seeking, restricting the range, quality and type of support provided.
The paper demonstrates that a significant shift is required in practice to ensure that older people are in a
position to make informed choices and their wishes are central in the decision-making process.
Research limitations/implications –Further qualitative research is needed to explore what older people
themselves believe are the factors that impact on statutory service engagement.
Originality/value –This study is the first in the UK to conduct Pan-Wales research on professionals’views
on help-seeking behaviours of older people. One of the key findings from the study is that professionals from
the statutory sector feel that connections to the home and social networks strongly influence help-seeking for
older victim-survivors of domestic abuse.
Keywords Social networks, Older people, Family, Domestic abuse, Help-seeking, Meanings of the home
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Domestic abuse in later life is a neglected area in policy and practice when compared to the plethora
of policyguidance, servicedevelopment and professional training tailoredtowards supportingother
age groups (Blood, 2004; ADASS, 2015). Although older people may experience similar attitudinal
barriers as younger victim-survivors of domestic abuse do when accessing formal help ( McGarry
and Simpson, 2011), their experiences are further compounded by ageist responses from service
providers (Harbison, 2008). Age discrimination impacts on older people’s willingness to seek help
and the ability of agencies to provide an age-sensitive yet non-ageist response.
Our qualitative research, which focuses on discriminatory practices, highlights that for older
victim-survivors of domestic abuse, policy guidance and service provision in Wales is still in its
infancy (Clarke et al., 2015; Wydall and Zerk, 2015). Moreover, far more research is needed to
increase our understanding as to how age and the interplay of intersections of gender
(Pritchard, 2002; Brandl, 2000), disability (ADASS, 2015) and ethnicity (Bowes et al., 2008)
impact on service engagement (United Nations, 2002).
Definition and prevalence of domestic abuse in later life
The Home Office (2013, p. 1) provide a cross-government definition of domestic abuse as,
“Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or
Received 8 March 2017
Revised 21 June 2017
19 July 2017
Accepted 28 July 2017
The authors would like to thank
the participants for their
involvement in the Pan-Wales
study. The authors would also like
to give special thanks to Professor
Alan Clarke at Aberystwyth
University, Department of Law and
Criminology, for his helpful
comments and suggestions. The
authors also thank to the
anonymous reviewers for their
valuable comments and
recommendations that led to an
improvement in the paper.
Sarah Wydall is a Senior
Research Fellow and
Rebecca Zerk is a Researcher,
both at the Department of Law
and Criminology, Aberystwyth
University, Aberystwyth, UK.
DOI 10.1108/JAP-03-2017-0010 VOL. 19 NO. 5 2017, pp. 247-260, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1466-8203
j
THE JOURNAL OF ADULT PROTECTION
j
PAG E 247
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