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36 Idaho L. Rev. 203 (1999-2000)
Financial Abuse of the Elderly

handle is hein.journals/idlr36 and id is 211 raw text is: FINANCIAL ABUSE OF THE ELDERLY CAROLYN L. DESSIN* TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ................................ 203 II. WHAT IS FINANCIAL ABUSE? ....................................... 206 III. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES OF PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND FINANCIAL ABUSE ....................... 210 A. PERSONAL AUTONOMY AND COMPETENCY ............... 217 B. THE GENDER FACTOR ............................................ ; .......... 221 C. RECOGNIZING FINANCIAL ABUSE ................................222 D. LEGISLATIVE RESPONSES TO FINANCIAL ABUSE ...................................... 222 IV. FINDING A SOLUTION ............................................................. 225 I. INTRODUCTION The American population is aging rapidly. Roughly thirty-five million Americans are now age sixty-five or older, and that number is projected to rise to forty million in 2010.1 With this changing demo- graphic comes an increasing awareness of the potential problems that face aging Americans. It is estimated that the number of elderly adults abused each year is nearly one and a half million.2 Most of the abusers are family members.3 It is also estimated that five percent of elderly persons will suffer some form of abuse in.the coming year, and that one out of every four elderly persons will experience abuse or neglect at some * Associate Professor of Law, University of Akron School of Law. J.D., Vil- lanova University School of Law. M.M., Westminster Choir College. B.M. Ed., Temple University. The author would like to thank Richard Johnson for his research assis- tance. 1. See BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, U.S. DEPT. OF COMMERCE, STATISTICAL ABSTRACT OF THE UNITED STATES 16, 37 (110th ed. 1990) (table no. 18, Projections of the Total Population by Age, Sex, and Race: 1989 to 2010). 2. See HOUSE SUBCOMM. ON HEALTH LONG TERM CARE, 101ST CONG., 2D SESS., ELDER ABUSE: A DECADE OF SHAME AND INACTION, (Comm. Print 1990) [herein- after 1990 HOUSE REPORT]. The 1990 House Report was the follow-up to a 1981 report: HOUSE SELECT COMM. ON AGING, 97TH CONG., 1ST SESS., ELDER ABUSE: AN EXAMINATION OF A HIDDEN PROBLEM (Comm. Print 1981) [hereinafter 1981 HOUSE REPORT]. 3. See REMINDER/IMPACT PSA Launches Anti Elder Abuse Campaign, Business Wire, Jan. 20, 1999. 4. See id.