Research at a glance

              Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority
Lori G. Levin, Director
State of Illinois
Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor
RESEARCH AT A GLANCE
Vol. 1, No. 1 * October 2005 | Research at a Glance is a quick fact sheet summarizing findings from the latest ICJIA reports. Refer to Research Bulletin, Vol.
4, No. 1: “The rise in reported elder abuse: A review of state and national data,” by ICJIA research analysts Michelle Repp and Erica Hughes, or visit
www.icjia.state.il.us for more information on this topic.
This project was supported by Grant # 02-DB-MU-0017, awarded to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority by the Bureau of Justice Assistance,
Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in this document do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S.
Department of Justice.
Reported elder abuse cases on the rise in Illinois
Reports of elder abuse are increas-ing
at an alarming rate despite a
multiyear decline in Illinois crime,
according to an analysis of the state
and national problem of elder abuse
using data obtained from the Illinois
Department on Aging, the Long-
Term Care Ombudsman Program,
and the National Center on Elder
Abuse.
Between state fiscal years 1993 and
2003, the number of reported cases
of elder abuse in Illinois increased 85
percent (Figure 1), from 4,142 to
7,672. The most common form of
abuse was financial exploitation (34
percent), followed by emotional
abuse (28 percent), passive neglect
(22 percent), and physical abuse (10
percent). Deprivation was reported in
3 percent of the cases (Figure 2).
The highest percentage of elder
abuse victims lived in their own
home (80 percent), were white (75
percent), female (70 percent), wid-owed
(48 percent), physically im-paired
(41 percent), and between the
ages of 76 and 85 (39 percent).
The highest percentage of alleged
elder abusers were white (72 per-cent),
were not likely to be a
caregiver of the elderly victim (49
percent), were children of the victim
(42 percent), and financially depen-dent
on the victim (22 percent).
Source: Illinois Department on Aging
Figure 1
Reported cases of elder abuse in Illinois
Figure 2
Types of abuse reported in elder abuse cases, SFY03
0
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
Passive Physical Deprivation
neglect
Financial Emotional
exploitation
Type of abuse
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
State fiscal year
Number of reported cases
Source: Illinois Department on Aging