Editorial
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14668203200900022 |
| Pages | 2-4 |
| Date | 11 December 2009 |
| Published date | 11 December 2009 |
| Author | Margaret Flynn |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Sociology |
2 © Pier Professional Ltd The Journal of Adult Protection 6OLUME)SSUEs.OVEMBER
Editorial
The abuse of personal power is straightforward:
someone gains at the expense of another,
whether it is peer prestige, sense of control,
financial gain or sense of entitlement. The
last few months have furnished us with more
examples of abuse and perspectives on the
contexts in which they occurred.
■The tragedy of Fiona Pilkington and her
daughter Francecca raises uncomfortable
questions not only about what might have
halted the bullying and antisocial behaviour
to which the family were subjected, but
about parents who kill their disabled children
(Brown, 2009). Although antisocial behaviour
orders have a poor success rate, one of the
youths associated with the bullying, whose
name and photograph have been given a great
deal of media coverage, has an interim Asbo.
■Ten years ago, 15-year-old Tulay Goren
disappeared. Her body has never been found.
Her crime was her relationship with an older
Sunni Muslim – her family are Alevi Muslim.
Tulay had been ‘promised’ to a cousin. Her
father and uncles are accused of her ‘honour
killing’ (see Stobart, 2009).
■The 85-year-old son of the late Brooke Astor
was found guilty of defrauding his mother out
of a prodigious fortune ‘in an epic trial that has
thrown a spotlight on the abuse of elderly relatives’
in the USA (Pilkington, 2009). He took
advantage of his mother’s Alzheimer’s disease,
forcing her to change her will so he could
appropriate $185 million.
■KwaThema township near Johannesburg
has added to our safeguarding vocabulary.
Eudy Simelane, who played football for the
South African national team, died after being
gang raped and stabbed in April 2008. The
murder trial, which resulted in a man being
imprisoned for life, has been heralded as
important as it draws attention to the increase
in corrective rape committed to cure lesbian
women of their sexual orientation (Clayton,
2009).
■A former magistrate who was imprisoned
for two years before being cleared of rape
lost his legal battle to sue his accuser for
£300,000 damages in October. If his claim
had succeeded it would have made it possible
for other alleged victims of crimes without
witnesses to be personally sued for damages
where defendants had been acquitted.
■A survey by Leonard Cheshire, based on the
responses of 1,253 people has found that 12%
of disabled people have been the victims of
crime, although not necessarily ones motivated
by hatred (Greenhalgh & Gore, 2009).
■Transparency and accountability characterise
Sir Christopher Kelly’s plans for cleaning up
the MPs’ expenses earthquake. No action will
be taken against the individuals whose actions
caused most disquiet. MPs were the focus of
rage of the nine out of 10 people who earn
under £40,000, while city bonuses remain
unchecked (Toynbee, 2009).
■Just a year after the banking crisis, the Square
Mile lobbyists know that they are home and
dry. Meanwhile, Froud et al (2009), of the
Centre for Research of Socio Cultural Change
at Manchester University challenge the
conviction that the UK would be lost without
the finance industry.
■Irresponsible lending is alive and flourishing.
Not by the recently chastened banks, but by
extortionate doorstop lenders who charge
100–20,000% interest on short-term loans.
The only merit of their loans is that that they
appear accessible and flexible to people whom
the banks do not want to serve.
Now let’s turn to organisational responses to
concerns regarding abuse.
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