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Domestic abuse against older adults—What can s42 case files tell us

Bibliographic Data

ID10895952
AuthorsHannah Bows (0000-0001-5374-3770, Durham Law School, Durham University , DH1 3LE, corresponding author), Paige Bromley (School of Law and Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes, Headington Rd, Headington), Bridget Penhale (0000-0002-8487-0606, University of East Anglia)
Year2025
Volume55
Issue6
Pages2816-2834
Publication date2025-09-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe British Journal of Social Work (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0045-3102 • E-ISSN: 1468-263X
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/bjsw/bcaf074
OpenAlexW4409488996
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited22

The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to conduct safeguarding enquiries whenever abuse of an adult with care and support needs is suspected or confirmed (Section 42 enquiries) and provides a useful data source for examining domestic abuse (DA) against older people in this context. This article presents data from a qualitative content analysis of 172 enquiries into abuse of an adult aged sixty or over carried out by a large safeguarding partnership during 2019. By looking across cases, we identified around one-third of potential DA cases had not been identified as such and this was particularly the case in non-partner family abuse. Key findings include older adults experiencing DA are equally, if not more, likely to be abused by an (adult) child/offspring, most adults at risk were female and suspects were male, and of particular note was that polyvictimization was more common than single type abuse. We consider the implications for social work policy and practice concerning risk and safeguarding enquiries

Criminology · Forensic engineering · Elder Abuse and Neglect · Engineering · Intimate Partner and Family Violence · Medicine · Psychology · Sex work and related issues · Gerontology

  • Domestic abuse in later life

    Open Access•Hannah Bows, Merili Pullerits et al.•European Journal of Criminology•2026

  • Elder abuse prevalence in community settings

    Open Access•Yongjie Yon, Christopher R Mikton et al.•The Lancet Global Health•2017

  • Gender-specific differences in risk for intimate partner violence in South Korea

    Open Access•Minjee Lee, Katherine M Stefani et al.•BMC Public Health•2014

  • Prevalência de violência por parceiro íntimo em idosos e fatores associados

    Open Access•Diego Warmling, Deise Warmling et al.•Ciência & Saúde Coletiva•2017

  • Perpetrators of abuse against older women

    Open Access•Liesbeth De Donder, Gert Lang et al.•The Journal of Adult Protection•2011

  • Outcomes following adult safeguarding alerts

    Open Access•Rachel Fyson, Deborah Kitson•The Journal of Adult Protection•2012

  • Domestic Homicide of Older People (2010–15)

    Open Access•Hannah Bows•The British Journal of Social Work•2019

  • Practitioner Understandings of Older Victims of Abuse and Their Perpetrators

    Open Access•Hannah Bows, Paige Bromley et al.•The British Journal of Criminology•2024

Citations per year1
Citation span2026 - 2026 (1)
Highly citedNo

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