The Incidence and Prevalence of Criminal Abuse of Other Family Members

The bulk of family violence research and policy discussion focuses on marital violence and child abuse. Violence against elders, abuse of adolescents by parents, and violence by children in the family receive much less attention. Violence against elders is likely to increase because the proportion of elderly people in our population is growing, and there has been a cutback in the social services needed for prevention. Elder abuse is especially prevalent in the middle and lower middle classes and involves psychological maltreatment, financial exploitation, and physical neglect more often than actual battery. Although adolescents constitute about half the population of abused children, they are unlikely to tell anyone of their abuse; when they do, they are often disbelieved or blamed. Sibling violence, including sexual exploitation, occurs more frequently than any other type of family violence yet is the least likely to be reported to authorities.