s study is to examine whether educational variables (as measured by a modified version of The Personal Inventory developed by Bagshaw & Adams, 1985-1986) are associated with significant differences in abusive behavior on the part of caregivers working in an Extended Care Facility. Abusive behavior will be measured through a telephone survey of caregivers using Pillemer and Moore's (1988) Conflict Tactics Scale as well as their procedures for investigating abusive behavior on the telephone. The Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) was developed by Straus (1979).
The examination of the caregiver characteristic of education and training is based on the theoretical model of elderly patient maltreatment formulated by Pillemer (1988). The model states that elderly patient abuse and maltreatment is caused by an intermix of several variables: (1) the climate of the care facility environment; (2) patient characteristics; and (3) staff characteristics.
Since the model postulates staff characteristics as pivotal to patient maltreatment and abuse, and since the existing literature supports the notion that educational background successfully distinguishes between the level of care the elderly receive from caregivers, it seems reasonable to investigate for a relationship between caregivers' educational background and measures of whether or not caregivers are abusive.
Because there is not much research examining for relationship between educational/training variables and elderly abuse, the existing literature does not provide strong foundation for the formulation of directional hypotheses. For this reason, all hypotheses formulated for testing in the study are stated as null theses. These null hypotheses are:
Null Hypothesis 1 - Amount of education (Less than High School; High School Graduate; Some College; College Degree; Graduate Work; Graduate Degree) will not be observed to be significantly associated with elderly abuse as measured by car...