Why examining the role culture in the definition of elderly maltreatment (EM) is important?

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Examining the role culture plays in the definition of EM is important because each culture uniquely identifies acceptable and unacceptable treatment of elders. Although overall themes of elder care and respect, such as filial piety in Asian ethnic groups, may be a cultural value, studies have demonstrated that abuse still occurs. Abuse encompasses an array of behaviors that falls along a continuum, ranging from serious offenses that almost everyone will agree constitute abuse to mild acts that very few will label as abusive. Between these two ends of the continuum, lies a grey area in which agreement about abusive behavior is more difficult to establish. Intuitively, the more severe forms of physical abuse will be uniformly characterized by different cultures. However, “low level” physically aggressive acts may not be regarded uniformly in different cultures. Conrad et al. (2011) suggest that “any definition of psychological abuse may reflect a cultural perspective”. Differences in the identification of acts as abusive may be a result of differences in tolerance and thresholds of harm. What is perceived as abusive in one population may not be perceived as abusive in another.

Conrad, K. J., Iris, M., Ridings, J. W., Rosen, A., Fairman, K. P., & Anetzberger, G. J. (2011). Conceptual model and map of psychological abuse of older adults. Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect, 23(2), 147-168.