Table of Contents
Definition of Elder Abuse
(noun) When older people are deprived of care or intentionally harmed by their caretakers.
Examples of Elder Abuse
- Forging an elderly individual’s signature on checks or posing as them online.
- Taking financial advantage of older people by gaining their trust and manipulating them.
- Verbally abusing an older parent.
Elder Abuse Pronunciation
Syllabification: eld·er a·buse
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /El-duhr uh-byOOs/
- British English – /El-duh uh-byOOs/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈɛldər əˈbjus/
- British English – /ˈɛldər əˈbjuːs/
Usage Note
- Plural: elder abuses
Additional Information
- Family and Kinship Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “elder” and “abuse” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Coltrane, Scott, and Randall Collins. 2001. Sociology of Marriage & the Family: Gender, Love, and Property. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Related Terms
Works Consulted
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Kendall, Diana. 2011. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Ravelli, Bruce, and Michelle Webber. 2016. Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective. 3rd ed. Toronto: Pearson.
Thompson, William E., and Joseph V. Hickey. 2012. Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology. 7th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Cite the Definition of Elder Abuse
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “elder abuse.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 29, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/elder-abuse/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
elder abuse. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/elder-abuse/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “elder abuse.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 29, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/elder-abuse/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“elder abuse.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/elder-abuse/>.