Elder Abuse in Japan

Perceptions of elder abuse were examined in Japanese women (n = 100) and men (n = 46). Japanese women and men both emphasized physical aggression, followed by neglect and blaming, when giving examples of extremely abusive behavior. Physical aggression was also the most frequently mentioned type of moderate elder abuse, followed by neglect, economic maltreatment, emotional abuse, verbal abuse, blame, and psychological abuse. Japanese women provided significantly more psychological neglect responses than verbal aggression responses when giving examples of mild abuse. Paired samples t tests revealed that physical abuse responses were given significantly more often as examples of extreme abuse than of moderate or mild abuse. Findings have implications for addressing the conflict between changing family relationships and traditional cultural values—such as filial piety—in Japanese society.