Section 2
After you ask Mrs. Leavitt to tell you a bit more about what happened, she responds. It seems the Leavitts were babysitting their 9 y/o grandson. Mrs. Leavitt really enjoys doing this but she is getting concerned that Mr. Leavitt’s increasing agitation is interfering. The incident began with Mr. Leavitt yelling at his grandson because he didn’t like the TV program that was on. At first he was just muttering but he became increasingly agitated and ended up yelling at the child saying things like “You are always in the way” and “Why do you have to come here”.
Mrs. Leavitt asked him to be quiet and tried to use some approaches that worked in the past but it didn’t do any good When she told him to sit down, Mr. Leavitt responded by screaming profanities and calling her names. Since she felt the situation was scaring the child, she tried to get Mr. Leavitt to go into the bedroom. But he was very resistant and since he was bigger and stronger, Mrs. Leavitt also became frightened. She managed to out yell him and ended up pushing him into the bedroom, commanding that he stay there and shutting the door.
She was both shaken and relieved that he was not in the living room anymore and eventually Mr. Leavitt quieted down. Now Mrs. Leavitt says to you: “This is the second time I have had to lock him in the bedroom, I keep telling myself, I won’t do that, but I just couldn’t take it. He’s getting so angry and physical again”.
Critical Thinking Activity
Does Mrs. Leavitt’s reply raise suspicion of possible elder abuse? If so, what would you do?
Jot down your ideas for these questions and and then click on the Audio Response 2 link for the second response from your faculty.
Assignment 2
Access the URL for the Michigan State website to learn how you would report elder abuse. The URL can be found under the resources for the Lowell Neighborhood.