Policy Development - Term Paper Example

Domestic Violence and Elderly Abuse in the USA Within the United States Elderly Domestic Abuse is a major problem at the moment and it is now becoming a considerable causative factor in increased rate of mortality in individuals. (Saltzman., Fanslow, McMahon, and Shelley, 2006) The deliberate use of substantial strength or force that possesses a high possibility of causing physical or psychological harm, death or deprivation is called Violence. According to World Health Organization there are 3 different types of violence: Suicide and self-harm Collective violence Interpersonal violence. Domestic Violence is one form of Interpersonal violence which is defined as violence committed by a person or persons inside home against Elderly, young adult, intimate partner or children by another member of the same family. (Hayes-Bautista, Schink and Chapa, 2005) However, US Criminal Justice Policy only includes criminal murder or attempt of murder, forced or simple physical attack, sexual harassment, and burglary as violent crimes under the criminal codes. Most commonly their own children or children of their children abuse elders of the family. (De- Chesnay, Mary, 2008) Some times poor health of older adults disturb other members of the family as they become bound to listen to music in a low volume. As older people stay inside all the times so they don’t let others watch television channels of their own choice, which annoys other members of the family. Most of the older members of the family walk and talk slowly that also bothers others. Particularly in the case of violence against elderly, lots of people agree to include emotional or mental abuse and neglect as a type of violence even if there is no existence of physical force. (Kilpatrick and Acierno, 2003) This is true that that mental or emotional abuse or neglect is ethically wrong and can prove to be extremely harmful for elderly. Though, main focus of this paper will be US Government Policy for Elderly Abuse and Domestic Violence. Since the main objective of this document is to talk about US policy for Domestic Violence against Elderly it will be useful to first define public policy. Public Policy is defined as a group of laws, dictatorial measures, courses of acts, and financial support priorities in relation to a given issue that is publicized by a legislative body or its representatives. (Davidhizar & Shearer, 1999). Any policy is implemented by obeying legislation and regulation. Policy has played a major role in the manner America and other nations o fthe world deal with the dilemma of violence against general public or elderly. US policy has made authorizing laws for Elderly physical or mental health issues, that also deals with dilemma of violent crime against elderly at domestic or general level. The US Government has fixed particular amount of funding that is spent in running programs that promotes prevention of elderly from violence at domestic or general level. Accoring to famous American Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, domestic violence is a major causative agent for poor physical or mental health problems in elderly. After his research, considerable efforts have been made to improve the usage of public health approaches and prevent the occurrence of domestic violence in adults. For a number of reasons that include major immigration flows, lower mortality, and longer life expectancy, most of the growth in America's elder population in the recent past has been driven by growth in the numbers of elderly of all nationalities and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. The US Government is now showing special interest in improving policies against Elderly Abuse. (Kilpatrick, 2003) Its main reason is, such types of crime eventually cost a lot to the society. Domestic abuse against elderly radically increases possibility of a number of major mental or physical health problems within elderly like sadness, post-traumatic stress disorder or substance abuse. According to Statistics, older adults who bear Domestic violence are at extreme risk of facing physical health problems. According to a recent study the fiscal cost of Domestic Violence against elderly alone is more than $6 billion in a year in America. However, providing an immediate help to elderly soon after the violence can reduce the risks that such type of Domestic Violence can cause. Moreover, if an elderly has already developed physical or mental problems due to domestic violence, further damage or violence-related economic costs can be minimized or reduced by providing effectual tertiary prevention to the elderly victim of domestic abuse. (Keane, Gerrity and Feels, 2001) However, none of such policies can do much without support of victims. Nobody can stop abuse without getting to know about any sort of abuse if the victim is not ready to report it. Lawyers are unable to help victims if victims are unwilling to cooperate with them. Similarly, it becomes impossible for the judges to come to accurate sentencing decisions if victims are not prepared to tell truth about the whole scenario due to emotional attachment with the abusive member of the family. The President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime Final Report highlighted these things. Decker & Schulz, 2008) According to this report, extensive changes are needed in the criminal justice system in order to refurbish citizens’ confidence in the Criminal system and to increase victims' compliance to cooperate. Hence, it is of crucial importance to improve the manner the criminal justice system treats elderly victims of domestic abuse, as it will also assist the criminal justice system's capacity of achieving its objective. In some cases, older citizens of the United States also feel their requirements are quite well met. Lots of them seem to be the most satisfied about their freedom, privacy, and admiration within the society; they really enjoy the amount of assistance that they receive from others; their interactions with neighbors; and the overall corporeal environment. Nevertheless, there are lots of areas where there is still prospect for improvement, for example more advanced community and family support, more contribution in community activities, awareness of control, emotional well-being, and various other aspects of life contentment. There is a need for increased assistance and support of family members in successfully managing behavioral health and dependency problems for elderly in the society. Lots of individuals are still unaware of the actual definition of domestic violence. Domestic Violence includes any type of corporal, sexual or psychological abuse that occurs within the state of a close relationship. Experts demonstrate domestic violence as a result of unconfident or 'dysfunctional' family contact. (Eaton, D. K., Kann, L., Kinchen, S., Shanklin, S., Ross, J., Hawkins, 2008). Elder abuse is a miserable truth for a lot of senior citizens in America. Uncountable senior citizens are being harrased, neglected, insulted or exploited, since majority of such cases remain unnoticed. According to a research nearly 43% (i.e. 156740) of senior citizens have to face abuse of any kind. According to another study during past ten years, such type of cases has increased upto 150%. Without a doubt, it is must to deal with the problem of domestic violence in America. The successful operation of the Domestic Criminal Justice System together with the public health system will surely help. Indeed, significant improvement in both such systems and approaches has been observed during the last couple of decades. In spite of these developments, it is also essential to not to forget boundaries of both these systems, mainly regarding how they deal with domestic crime victims' civil rights and services. Another approach that could be enhanced is the increased use of community volunteers to help with activities, outings, and friendly visiting. It has been stated that for elderly with limited or no family connections, outside volunteers could greatly strengthen social support. In addition to volunteers, some places in various areas can also be utilized as a social gathering place for elderly. Interactions with other individuals of same age group of the society will enrich the lives of many citizens. The actual goal of the US domestic criminal justice system conventionally has been to deal with domestic crimes and domestic criminal defendants. This is evidently a major task and that needs to guarantee elderly safety and respect within the society too together with reasonable, impartial, and justified dealing with domestic criminal defendants. Before 1980s, domestic crime victims were seen as the only important individuals to the criminal justice system. They were supposed to provide main evidence needed to investigate extent of crime and act against criminals. However, the concept of domestic or general abuse victims in prosecution has altered significantly. In old times, victim and suspected criminal used to face each other directly, and the fines were decided by the judge, whereas, nowadays victims play the role of the main witness too. (Flaskerud, J., & Winslow, 2005). Although, nobody says that his or her life is perfect these days. But efforts can be made for aging individuals of the state and stop domestic violence against them. Lots of elderly face difficulty in finding new companions and friends because of what they experience in their own home. They start to experience irritation and sometimes apprehension about the behavior of others. However, Government of the US highly appreciate role of psychiatric-mental health nurses in giving support to senior citizens, they help them assessing adaptation, fostering social interaction, negotiating conflict situations, and encourage elderly to live with family in ways that augment their perception of control over everyday experiences. The safety of our senior citizens from all types of abuse and violence is of great concern to a number of departments of US Government. Even though this is a hard target to achieve, efforts have been made to collaborate with local police and other departments to monitor any of such activities that usually occur secretly inside homes. For elderly to have opportunities for increased safety inside their house and to address issues of life satisfaction within them, a resident council is to establish to provide a voice to senior citizens of our society. It will be right of every senior citizen to elect members of this council, and one of these staff members will serve as staff representative. It will also be a good idea to publish a monthly newsletter with experiences of senior citizens of the society. It is true, the old method introduced a justice system that gave significantly more importance to and offered more resources to defendants than to domestic abuse victims. In recent years, domestic abuse victims' rights and services have greatly improved, but the US justice system still offers a lot more resources to deal with domestic crimes and domestic criminal defendants than to assure the rights and requirements of domestic crime victims. (Cummings, 2002). Recommendation I The first recommendation is to amend The US Constitution that deals with the Domestic Crime against elderly. The Constitution should provide basic rights to the victims of domestic crime. The Office for Victims of Crime New Directions and President' s Task Force on Victims of Crime also made this suggestion during 1980s. Recommendation II Government policies, regulations and standards should be amended to support greater cooperation between key federal community health, mental health, physical health, and domestic criminal justice system agencies. Recommendation III State and National public policy must take into consideration that adequate resources are accessible at all times to offer adequate mental and physical health care services to elderly victims of domestic crime. Similarly, there is need of a mechanism that makes agencies aware of any sort of domestic crime faced by elderly victims of the society. The World Health Organization has given same sort of suggestion too recently. (World Health Organization , 2008) Recommendation IV There is an immediate need of an effective implementation of public policy against domestic violence against elderly. Moreover, there are few current domestic crime prevention strategies that need another vigilant evaluation for efficacy as mentioned by the World Health Organization report too. This is also must to find out if domestic violence against elderly prevention strategies is truly functioning and followed by agencies. References Cummings, S. (2002). Predictors of psychological well being among assisted-living residents. Health and Social Work, 27, 293-302. Davidhizar, R., & Shearer, R. (1999). Helping elderly clients adjust to loss and change. Home Care Providers, 4, 147-149. De- Chesnay, Mary (2008) Caring for the Vulnerable: Perspectives in Nursing Theory, Practice, and Research, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Pg 20- 25. Decker, S., & Schulz, R. (2008). Correlates of life satisfaction and depression in middle-aged and elderly spinal cord-injured persons. The American Journal of Eaton, D. K., Kann, L., Kinchen, S., Shanklin, S., Ross, J., Hawkins, J., et al. (2008, June 6). 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