Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn about social workers’ experience of the therapeutic encounter with victims and perpetrators of elder abuse and neglect and its implications for their personal and professional lives. Participants were 17 experienced women social workers, who worked with abused and neglected older adults in Israel. Data were collected by in-depth semi-structured interviews, which were later transcribed and content analyzed. Four main themes were revealed: (1) The Complexity of the Experience of the Therapeutic Encounter; (2) Circles Echoing Between the Professional and the Personal; (3) Between Growth and Attrition; and (4) Experiencing the Mission and its Meaning. As time is running out for older adults, the “now or never” perspective shapes social workers’ encounter with elder abuse opening a unique kind of dialogue. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 797-807 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Journal of Family Violence |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 2014 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Author Note This work was supported by: Grants from ESHEL – The Association for the Planning and Development of Services for the Aged in Israel, and the University of Haifa Research Authority. The authors wish to thank the social workers, intervening with older adults suffering from abuse and neglect, who participated willingly in this study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
Keywords
- Elder abuse and neglect
- Experience
- Qualitative research
- Social workers
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Psychology
- Sociology and Political Science
- Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Law