Abstract
As elder abuse has become a social problem, it has drawn a great deal of attention from researchers and policy-planers. While there have been a number of studies addressing various issues related to elder abuse, the present study aims to explain whether and how the perception of elder abuse would differ among the elderly themselves. In particular, the study focuses on the differences between urban and rural areas. Family-centered culture is believed to have a stronger influence in rural areas compared to urban areas. This cultural tradition highlights the importancy of the family compared to the individuals. Thus, the elderly who experience abuse would take it as personal matter rather than publicizing it. In addition, the information and campaigns on preventing elder abuse are less prevalent in rural areas than in urban areas due to limited communication networks. For these reasons, the study suggests a hypothesis that the elderly in rural areas are less perceptive to elder abuse. Using 6,709 persons aged 65 and over from a nationwide survey conducted by the Korean Institute for Health and Social Affairs in 2009, the study ran regression analysis on 4 types of elder abuse including psychological, financial, physical and neglect. The results show that regardless of types of abuse, the elderly in rural areas have lower levels of perception than the elderly in urban areas do. In addition, the frequency of social activities is positively related to the perception of elderly abuse. This is also true for the different types of elder abuse. The findings suggest that social effort to prevent elder abuse consider the urban-rural differences and their sources.
