What are the social reasons for the rampant abuse of the elderly and handicapped in the United States?
I grew up in England and have lived in many countries. However, I have never lived in any country except for the United States where report and incidence of abuse in hospitals and other such institutions, group homes, etc., of the elderly and disabled was so high. I am rather conscious of the issues from working on the boards of local and regional charities where I have lived who assist the disabled and elderly.
Now the facts go as follows. Disabled children in the United States alone are 3.4 times more likely to be abused or neglected. In a majour longitudinal study it was found that the mentally disabled are 3.8 times more likely to be neglected; 3.8 times more likely to be physically abused; 3.1 times more likely to be sexually abused and 3.9 more likely to be emotionally abused. Overall, 31% of the total disabled children in this research had been abused. Which is truly awesome as this is based off of only abuse and neglect that has been reported and the fact that neglect of the severely disabled projects upwards as age increases. It however has been purported that the rate of sexual abuse by the age 18 is closer to being analogous to the average women's sexual abuse statistic. The information about disability abuse and neglect is meager and best and subject to gross underestimates in statistical finding and projections.
In the case of the elderly, in the United States alone 1 to 2 million people age 65 and over have have been injured, exploited, or otherwise mistreated by someone on whom they depended for care or protection. Estimates of the frequency of elder abuse range from 2% to 20 based on various sampling,, survey methods, and case definitions. Data on elder abuse in domestic settings suggest that 1 in 14 incidents, excluding incidents of self-neglect, come to the attention of authorities. Current estimates put the overall reporting of financial exploitation at only 1 in 25 cases, suggesting that there may be at least 5 million financial abuse victims each year. Finally, it is estimated that for every one case of elder abuse, neglect, exploitation, or self-neglect reported to authorities, about five more go unreported.
So my question to you is why does the United States have so little respect for the human rights and dignity of the weak, ill, and elderly? As well, why is so little done by the government and society in the United States to stem this unstable trend?
@Shovel Ready: I know your type. You wouldn't help a handicapped person if they were choking to death. I assume you are this type as you have refused to refute anything based of logic or fact. This is something these types also do
It is more than merely a political party issue. The issue is very much a problem within the governmental infrastructure. It turns out that when the systems are worked out the providers agencies and companies of assistance to the elderly are closely aligned with the governmental administrators who are supposed to provide oversight of the actions taken by providers. This means that the governmental agencies are buddy buddy with the businesses who end up abusing and neglecting the clients.
*and disabled (after "elderly")
All, or rather, most of you have given very fine answers as so far. Thank you for your thoughts.