Environmental Factors and Aged Abuse in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the environmental factors and aged abuse in Ibadan. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and 1978 WHO ‘30 by 7’ cluster sampling technique in selecting 1,244 aged persons from six local government areas in Ibadan. Environmental Factors Questionnaire with three sub-scales [culture (r=0.81); westernisation (r=0.79) and social support policy (r=0.75) and Aged Abuse (r=0.83) scales were used for the data collection. These were complemented with Life-story and In-depth interview sessions with the aged. Multiple regression was used at 0.05 level of significance while qualitative data were content analysed. Environmental factors jointly predict aged abuse among the Yoruba people (F16, 1243=1285.59; R= .97), accounting for 94.3% of its variance. Cultural 
beliefs (?=.24), Westernisation (?=-0.16), and social support policy (?=-0.10) factors had relative contributions to aged abuse. Succinctly, eroded culture, weak social support system, and exposure to western culture contributed to aged abuses in Ibadan. There is the need for a value orientation, strong social support and prosecution of Aged abusers.