The Forensic Markers of Physical Elder Abuse project has clinicians performing forensic examinations of both non-abused older adults and older adults referred to APS for physical abuse, to compare the injuries visible in each group. Results from these examinations have been reviewed by a LEAD Panel of family violence experts to achieve a determination of abuse vs. non-abuse and to assess the differential importance of physical/photographic evidence vs. narrative/contextual evidence in making an abuse determination. Select cases were also presented to criminal justice practitioners, to gauge their perceptions of the injuries and what implications the presence or absence of injuries has for the criminal justice prospects of each case.
Contact:
Jeanine Yonashiro-Cho (yonashir@usc.edu)