"She just got harder and harder to look after": A Discourse Analytic Case Study of Elder Abuse

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cityu.schoolDivision of Arts and Sciences
cityu.siteVictoria
cityu.site.countryCanada
dc.contributor.authorde Wit, Paula
dc.date.accessioned2020-09-24T19:07:50Z
dc.date.available2020-09-24T19:07:50Z
dc.date.issued2020-07
dc.description.abstractAs our population ages, it is anticipated we will see more and more cases of elder abuse (Young, 2014). With that said, elder abuse is often obscured from view because it typically takes place behind closed doors in family homes or in institutional settings. Victims are often among the most vulnerable members of society, many of whom have limited access to the outside world due to complex medical conditions which may render them physically frail, cognitively impaired, and in extreme cases, non-verbal. This thesis examines transcripts of the police interview with Ontario nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer who pleaded guilty to murdering eight older adults in her care. Using the Interactional and discursive view of violence and resistance (Coates & Wade, 2007) as my theoretical frame, I will take a discourse analytic approach to demonstrate how the language of perpetrators of elder abuse can be used both to conceal their violence and the victim's resistance. I will further discuss how these narratives serve to mitigate the responsibility of the perpetrators of elder abuse and blame the victims.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11803/930
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisher.institutionCity University of Seattle (CityU)
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
dc.rightsopenAccess
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/
dc.subjectelder abuse
dc.subjectconcealing violence
dc.subjectmitigating responsibility
dc.subjectresponse-based approach
dc.subjectvictim blaming
dc.title"She just got harder and harder to look after": A Discourse Analytic Case Study of Elder Abuse
dc.typeThesis
thesis.degree.disciplineCounselling
thesis.degree.grantorCity University of Seattle
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Counselling
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