Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Review, 2007,19(2): 1-3

In this guest editorial for the Social Work Review the author comments on the apparent lack of attention to elder abuse from the social work profession. The article discusses ageist attitudes which contribute to "abusing the abused", and the invisibility of elder abuse, both in terms of practice and publishing. While acknowledging recent research of practitioners and policy makers quantifying elder abuse, it is noted that this is largely from a positivist, and, it is suggested, ageist standpoint. Highlighting the aging population in Aotearoa New Zealand, the author invites social workers to generate debate on the social, political, cultural and economic aspects of aging and elder abuse.