Why do caregivers abuse the elderly?

There is really never an excuse for abuse.
I think the elderly are susceptible because #1, they are often unable to defend themselves and sometimes unable to communicate well enough to either stop the abuse, or report the abuse. On the second hand, caring for another human being is exhausting and stressful, and sometimes people who are prone to losing their tempers or resorting to abusive behavior will “snap” under the right circumstances.

Not all of them do.

The elderly are easy targets because they’re defenseless, just like children and animals.

It is not ‘caregivers’ that do this, it is personality disordered types that prey on the vulnerable. Whether that is an elderly person or your basic sociopathic narcissist that exploits others for their own gain.
It is a character issue not a caregiver issue.

Predatory PEOPLE are always on the lookout for victims to use and abuse and manipulate.

The same exact reason why anyone commits abuse of any kind. Sicko people that do those kinds of things, like abusing elderly people, do it for the same reason that peope abuse children, animals, women, handicapped persons, gay people, you name it. Because it gives them a sense of being powerful. Also, some of these people, especially the ones who abuse the elderly, might be only in the “care giving business” to swindle money away from the elders, so they don’t give a damn about the people at all and when they get pissed off, they just strike out. I’m guessing that most care takers of the elderly are in it for compassionate reasons.

My work brings me into lots of institutions where the elderly and disabled are cared for. I see many very different atmospheres reigning in these places. In some, there is a genuine sense of caring and the residents are happy. In others, you can feel the suffocating apathy as soon as you walk in the door.

The caregivers in many institutions are there not because they feel it’s their calling, but because it’s a job of last resort. They’re very poorly paid, and deal with bodily discharges for a good chunk of the day. They work in an environment that reeks of disinfectant and urine. They often hear far more complaints than praise or gratitude. All this really sets a person up for apathy. They feel no personal connection for their charges, no compassion. They’re like so much livestock.

Remember how shocked the public was when video was released of heartless treatment of animals at a slaughterhouse? Work in that environment shuts down compassion, and compassion is really the only thing keeping us from treating each other like shit.

@thorninmud yup.

People that do this are sick immoral individuals.
Our society allows people with special needs and the elderly to be abused because; they don’t have a lot of power.
I think people that do this and their superiors should be fined and imprisoned.
This Summer and last autistic young men were left to die in cars by staff that forgot them.
This is a failure of our society to do the right thing.
If I was on a jury where someone allowed such people in their care to die I would sentence them to death or life in prison if I could.

Some people are stuck in the role of caregiver without ever having wanted to be in that position. It could be a wife, husband, child, S/O. Not that many people are equipted to take care of a sick person but someone they love gets sick and they end up having to clean up vomit, wipe butts, spoon feed mashed banannas and listen to someone whine and complain. Resentment builds up and there is no outlet for the anger which could result in the abuse of an elderly or sick person.

I once worked as an assisted living caregiver for about 6 months. I LOVED helping the elderly. It was a small 6 resident facilty and I went above and beyond and took great pleasure in, especially, preparing really good meals for the ladies. I would offer them dinner choices and made lots of home made soups and often brought in extra goodies just because. It wasn’t something I wanted to make a career out of, still, it was very rewarding for the brief time I worked in that industry.

@Coloma that’s ideal, but not the norm. Most facilities like that are understaffed, the staff is poorly paid for the work that they do. The problem is that you end up with a caregiver assigned to too many residents, the situation is already set up for failure. So many people don’t recognize compassion burnout until it is too late. The right personality type + compassion burnout = recipe for disaster.

@ANef_is_Enuf

I do agree.
One of the reasons I knew wouldn’t work for me was that, you are right, there are many kind of forgive the un-PC-ness low life types that work in that industry. It is sad. For every genuinely caring person there are a dozen rather flakey, unsavory types.