Research On The Problem Of Elder Abuse In Rural Areas In Central China And Its Solutions

At present,the aging of population in China develops rapidly,the proportion of the elderly population is rising,and the focus of population structure is moving upward,which brings great burden to the society and family.Especially in the rural areas of China,due to poverty,disease and other reasons,the rural elderly have poor ability to support themselves,and need more economic and spiritual support from the society and family.With the increasing pressure of supporting the elderly,the old people’s dependants are overwhelmed and abuse the elderly in the process of supporting the elderly.The abuse of the elderly by the caregivers not only endangers their physical health,but also brings irreversible mental trauma to the elderly.In addition,the problem of elder abuse involves the scope of human rights and law,and the state and society should pay attention to and intervene the problem of elder abuse.This study is based on the investigation of the living conditions of the elderly in M Village,Xinjang County,Yuncheng City,Shanxi Province.The method of in-depth interview is adopted to collect data.A total of 10 elderly people are selected for household interview,and all of them have been abused.In addition,the author also interviewed the village secretary,neighborhood neighbors,court staff and other 6 related personnel.Through interview analysis,the author learned that in recent years,the elderly in M Village were suffering from different types of abuse,mainly including four types of economic abuse,mental abuse,neglect of care and physical abuse.The economic maltreatment of the elderly in the village is mainly manifested as economic fraud and economic encroachment.Spiritual abuse is mainly manifested as spiritual belittling and spiritual violence.The neglect of care is mainly manifested as neglect and refusal of care;Physical abuse is mainly manifested as physical restraint.Although the elderly are suffering physical and mental abuse,but the majority of the elderly due to face is not willing to "dirty laundry"public,in the long run,abuse of the elderly behavior can not be effectively prevented and intervention,the old age of rural elderly life will not be guaranteed.Therefore,this paper focuses on in-depth analysis of the reasons for the abuse of the elderly in rural areas,and tries to use the professional methods of social work to carry out targeted interventions on the abuse of the elderly.In view of the reasons behind the problem of rural elderly abuse,this paper tries to analyze the elderly from three aspects:individual,family and society.From the individual level of the elderly,due to their weak economic status and physiological function decline,the elderly lack of social resources that can be exchanged,resulting in economic and physical abuse of the elderly in the society.From the family level,the core of the family structure,the loosening of the intergenerational relationship and the change of the concept of family endowment make the family pay more attention to the cultivation of the children,the status of the elderly in the family is reduced,and there is a phenomenon of neglect of the elderly.From the social level,rural old-age culture change,backward of rural education,the main responsibility to support the elderly of the gender division of labor and rural formal support system is imperfect,these factors led to the rural society to the elderly stigmatized,serious damaged self-esteem of the elderly,serious mental hurt for old people.Finally,on the basis of combing and reviewing the current situation of social work intervention on elder abuse at home and abroad,this paper attempts to put forward social work intervention countermeasures for the elderly abuse in M village.First of all,in response to the economic abuse suffered by the elderly,social workers can propose to the government to improve the social security for the elderly,encourage the development of rural collective economy,and carry out group activities to raise the awareness of property protection of the elderly.Then,in response to the mental abuse suffered by the elderly,social workers can adopt the structured family therapy model,improve the interaction between family members,help the elderly to expand their social support network,enhance the elderly’s sense of self-worth,reduce their loneliness and sense of loss.Secondly,for the neglect of the elderly,social workers can make use of local resources to tap the endogenous strength of rural areas and carry out diversified pension models such as mutual assistance and community pension.Finally,in view of the physical abuse of the elderly,social workers can cooperate with medical disciplines and propose to relevant departments that part of the physical examination items be included in the reimbursement scope of the rural cooperative medical insurance,so as to improve the physical health status of the elderly and reduce their dependence on their caregivers.