Social Workers' Encounters with Elder Abuse and Neglect: Giving Meaning to Their Experiences

Tova Band-Winterstein; Hadass Goldblatt; Sara Alon

doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcaa165

Social Workers' Encounters with Elder Abuse and Neglect: Giving Meaning to Their Experiences

Tova Band-Winterstein, Hadass Goldblatt, Sara Alon

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This article examines Israeli social workers' experiences of their encounters with elder abuse survivors and its impact on professional and personal aspects in the social workers' lives. Participants were seventeen experienced women social workers, who intervened with elder abuse and neglect. Data were collected via in-depth semi-structured interviews. Data analysis revealed three main themes: (i) 'Sensing the Pain': Exposure to the Complexity of Clients' Life-Long Suffering; (ii) Taking Home the Pain: Social Workers Dwelling with the Sensitivity of the Encounter with Elder Abuse and (iii) 'Caring for Them, and Letting Them Be Part of My World': The Encounter as Resonating in Social Workers' Professional and Personal Life Domains. Social workers' experiences of complex, sensitive encounters with elder abuse survivors appear to be a multidimensional challenge, involving both burden and growth. This notion can leverage the client-helping professional relationship, thus enriching and shaping social workers' personal and professional worlds.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	564-582
Number of pages	19
Journal	British Journal of Social Work
Volume	51
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcaa165
State	Published - 1 Mar 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank the social workers, intervening with older adults suffering from abuse and neglect, who participated in this study. The study was approved by the University of Haifa committee for ethical research with humans (approval number 085/11). This work was supported by grants from ESHEL - The Association for the Planning and Development of Services for the Aged in Israel.

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The British Association of Social Workers. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Ageing
Care of older adults
Coping and resilience
Elder abuse and neglect
Qualitative research
Social workers

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Health(social science)
Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

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10.1093/bjsw/bcaa165

Cite this

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abstract = "This article examines Israeli social workers' experiences of their encounters with elder abuse survivors and its impact on professional and personal aspects in the social workers' lives. Participants were seventeen experienced women social workers, who intervened with elder abuse and neglect. Data were collected via in-depth semi-structured interviews. Data analysis revealed three main themes: (i) 'Sensing the Pain': Exposure to the Complexity of Clients' Life-Long Suffering; (ii) Taking Home the Pain: Social Workers Dwelling with the Sensitivity of the Encounter with Elder Abuse and (iii) 'Caring for Them, and Letting Them Be Part of My World': The Encounter as Resonating in Social Workers' Professional and Personal Life Domains. Social workers' experiences of complex, sensitive encounters with elder abuse survivors appear to be a multidimensional challenge, involving both burden and growth. This notion can leverage the client-helping professional relationship, thus enriching and shaping social workers' personal and professional worlds.",

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Social Workers' Encounters with Elder Abuse and Neglect: Giving Meaning to Their Experiences

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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