Abuse of elderly a growing problem in Japan

A legal framework and support systems are prerequisites to resolving the problem of elderly people being abused by relatives, according to the findings of a Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry (Japan) survey. The survey conducted late last year through early this year revealed that sons were the most common offenders and that one out of two abusers did not realize that what they were doing constituted abuse. It also revealed that 90 percent of nursing care managers found it difficult to effectively deal with cases of abuse after they had been identified. Surveys conducted in the 1990s concluded that daughters-in-law were the prime offenders. However, the latest survey showed that 32 percent of abuses were committed by sons, with daughters-in-law responsible for 21 percent. Daughters of the elderly were abusers in 16 percent of the cases. « This result is understandable under the current social situation, » Josai International University Visiting Prof. Yukie Nakamura said. Nakamura learned that sons were responsible for 31 percent of abuse cases in her own survey conducted in four cities in Chiba Prefecture from 2001 to 2003. Nearly half of the cases involved elderly parents who lived with their sons’ families or unmarried sons. « It can be