Which States are the Most Dangerous for Seniors?
Violence in American society garners no shortage of media attention. This has created entire months devoted to raising awareness of domestic abuse to advocacy against gun violence or cyberbullying. It seems like for every segment of the population that experiences specific threats or acts of violence, there's a corresponding push to understand and reduce that violence.
That's one reason why a report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is so shocking. The CDC reported that the rates of homicides and assaults committed against older Americans have surged in recent years.
The rate of older Americans suffering non-fatal assaults rose by about 55 percent between 2002 and 2016, according to the CDC, which attributed the rise in rates partially to the increased numbers in the age group overall, as the U.S. population continues to get older on average. About 22 percent of Americans today are older than 60, but that proportion is expected to grow to about 28 percent by 2050. But even today, the proportion of older people in the population is larger than the proportion of children under 15 (19 percent).
Older Americans do have a lower rate of violent victimization than the overall U.S. population, but those 60 and over are at risk of a particular type of violence that doesn't affect younger people — elder abuse. It's estimated that about 10 percent of those over 60 experience elder abuse every year, but the majority of elder abuse incidents go unreported.
While the CDC report revealed startling trends in violence against older Americans, the homicide rate of those 65 and older has fallen slightly in the past few years, though when looking at state-level data, there's little cause for celebration.
In which states are older Americans most likely to be the victims of homicide, what does elder abuse look like and how can you protect yourself or a loved one?
MOST AND LEAST DEADLY STATES FOR SENIORS
National-level data, such as the rise in the national violence rate noted by the CDC, is definitely important to understanding the state of violence against older Americans, but this is a huge and diverse country. What's true in one state isn't always true in another, so we wanted to explore which states pose the greatest risk of violence for older Americans.
The CDC's WISQARS (Web-Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System) tool reports data related to both fatal and nonfatal injuries across the country. For nonfatal injuries, the figures are not split out by state, but they are for fatal injuries, which can include homicide, suicide, and police intervention.
While older Americans are much less likely overall than their younger counterparts to become homicide victims and the trends are going in a positive direction, some states paint a far darker picture for those over 65.
哪些州對老年人最危險?
美國社會的暴力事件引起了媒體的關注。這創造了整整幾個月的時間,致力於提高對家庭暴力的認識,以倡導反對槍支暴力或網路欺淩。似乎對於經歷特定威脅或暴力行為的每個人群來說,都有相應的推動力來理解和減少這種暴力。
這就是聯邦疾病控制和預防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)的一份報告如此令人震驚的原因之一。疾病預防控制中心報告說,近年來,針對美國老年人的兇殺和襲擊率激增。
根據疾病預防控制中心的數據,2002 年至 2016 年期間,美國老年人遭受非致命襲擊的比率上升了約55%,該機構將比率的上升部分歸因於隨著美國人口平均年齡的增長,整體年齡組人數的增加。今天大約22% 的美國人年齡在 60 歲以上,但預計到 2050 年,這一比例將增長到 28% 左右。但即使在今天,老年人在人口中的比例仍大於15歲以下兒童的比例 (19%)。
美國老年人的暴力受害率確實低於美國總人口,但60 歲及以上的人面臨一種不會影響年輕人的特定類型暴力的風險——虐待老人。據估計,每年約有10%的60歲以上的人經歷過虐待老人,但大多數虐待老人事件沒有被報告。
雖然CDC 報告揭示了針對美國老年人的暴力行為的驚人趨勢,但65 歲及以上人群的兇殺率在過去幾年中略有下降,儘管從州級數據來看,沒有什麼值得慶祝的。
哪些州的美國老年人最有可能成為兇殺案的受害者,虐待老人是什麼樣的,您如何保護自己或親人?
老年人最致命和最不致命的州
國家層面的數據,例如CDC 注意到的全國暴力率上升,對於瞭解針對美國老年人的暴力狀況絕對很重要,但這是一個幅員遼闊且多元化的國家。在一個州的情況並不總是在另一個州是正確的,因此我們想探討哪些州對美國老年人構成最大的暴力風險。
CDC 的 WISQARS(基於網路的傷害統計查詢和報告系統)工具報告與全國致命和非致命傷害相關的數據。對於非致命傷害,這些數字沒有按州劃分,但它們是針對致命傷害的數位,其中可能包括兇殺、自殺和警方干預。
雖然總體上,美國老年人成為凶殺案受害者的可能性比年輕人小得多,而且趨勢正在朝著積極的方向發展,但一些州為65歲以上的人描繪了一幅更黑暗的圖景。