Abstract
The purpose of this study is to explore the cultural definitions of financial abuse from the perspective of 124 elderly Korean immigrants and to examine the role of traditional cultural values in their definitions by using a mixed methods approach. The qualitative analysis generated four themes relevant to definition of financial abuse. A binary logistic regression indicated that those with stronger cultural adherence to traditional values had higher odds of providing culture-based definitions of financial abuse. Education is needed for health professionals, social service providers, and adult protective workers to increase their understanding of culture-specific experiences of financial abuse among ethnic minority elders.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 293-311 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 2012 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This article draws upon material from the first author’s doctoral dissertation. The dissertation research was funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation, and the authors acknowledge the generosity of the foundation and its staff.
Funding Information:
The expectation for financial support by adult children may have originated from the concept of filial piety, which is defined as “reciprocal
Funding Information:
1. No provision of financial support to elders
Funding Information:
Many elderly Korean immigrants defined financial abuse based on filial piety, specifically regarding adult children’s filial obligation toward their elderly parents. The most frequently reported definition of financial abuse was that of “not providing financial support to elderly parents,” a sentiment expressed by about half of the respondents. The expectation of financial support by adult children may have originated from the concept of filial piety, a reciprocal responsibility between parents and children. Thus, if adult children do not provide financial support during parents’ later years of life—in return for the financial support they received from their parents in the past—it is considered financial abuse. This finding clearly demonstrates the impact of cultural context in defining financial abuse. Likewise, our findings suggest the importance of conceptually adjusting current definitions of financial abuse to account for this complexity: formal definitions may need to be considered more broadly according to different elderly minority group’s given social and cultural contexts.
Copyright:
Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords
- culture
- definition
- elder mistreatment
- elderly Korean immigrants
- financial abuse
- immigration
