Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice Research Collection

The investigation of, and intervention into the alleged abuse of older people has become a dominant feature of social work in Ireland. The international definition of elder mistreatment adopted in most western countries including Ireland, is: ‘Elder abuse is a single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm to an older person’ (WHO, 2008; WHO/INPEA, 2002). Operationalising this abstract definition is to describe types or categories of abuse that older people can be subjected to - physical, sexual, psychological, financial and neglect. Although valuable, the limitations of these narrow and mutually exclusive categories are increasingly recognised (Anand et al., 2013; O’Brien et al., 2011; Naughton et al., 2012). There is a major lack of understanding of the voice and experiences of older people in relation to abuse (Anand et al., 2013; Charpentier and Souliéres, 2013; WHO, 2002b). Irish research has demonstrated that older people conceptualise elder abuse as the loss of voice and agency, diminishing status in society, violation of rights and wider societal influences that undermine a sense of individualism and ‘personhood’ (O’Brien et al., 2011; Naughton et al., 2013).

At the time the National Commission on Restorative Justice reported in 2009, it said "While no offence should in principle be excluded from the restorative process, certain serious offences such as sexual assaults should be excluded from the initial phases of implementation". The evidence from the research presented in this study indicates that this cautious approach to restorative justice in sexual crime is now no longer appropriate.