Newspapers' Framing of Elder Abuse: It's Not a Family Affair

Abstract

This article describes media coverage of elder abuse from 2003 to 2005. Guided by media typification and framing literatures, eight newspapers' elder abuse coverage was content analyzed. The newspapers' coverage usually typified and framed elder abuse in a criminal justice context. The stories covered most often featured episodic frames, 57.1%, while a majority, 65.2%, of the coverage framed elder abuse as an individual- as opposed to a societal-level problem. Most elder abuse occurs in domestic settings, yet the newspapers' coverage most often focused on elder abuse in long-term care settings.