Loneliness and Unmet Needs of Intimacy and Sexuality—Their Effect on the Phenomenon of Spousal Abuse in Second Marriages of the Widowed Elderly

Abstract

An exploratory study on elder abuse conducted in northern Israel during 1996-97 identified approximately 270 elderly who had been victims of verbal, emotional and/or physical abuse by their spouses and/or adult children. Of this group, 42 elderly victims of spousal abuse were identified, including 12 widowed elderly who were remarried. This last group was selected as a sample for a qualitative study, examining the reasons for spousal abuse among the remarried elderly based on the victims' reports. The main factors causing unhap-piness in these second marriages were found to be finances, memories of the deceased partner, and unmet social, psychological, sexual and emotional-intimacy needs, which increased loneliness. These factors produced tension and conflict between the partners resulting in quarrels and a variety of abusive situations: neglect, mental-emotional abuse, verbal abuse, and physical violence.

Key Words:

• Elderly second marriage
• spouse abuse
• loneliness
• sexuality
• intimacy