Sharpening Occam’s razor: developing theory to explain the persistent abuse of older people living in care homes

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relevance and importance of developing and making use of robust theory to explain and counter the tenacious social anomaly of the abuse of older people who live in care homes. Design/methodology/approach The activities of theorising and conducting research to gain revised theoretical comprehension of why abuse occurs in care homes, along with the enduring over reliance of those with an interest in safeguarding on existing theories borrowed from other fields to guide their activities are considered and discussed. Findings There is a pressing need for theory based understandings of the continuing abuse of older people and it is apparent that the development of such theory will be more productive if theorising and theory development are specific to certain types of abuse perpetrated in delineated settings. Practical implications The paper offers the opportunity for the reader to consider the significance of theorising and developing new theory in order to improve of the protection of potentially vulnerable adults by virtue of the guidance it can provide to the activities of policy makers, managers and practitioners. Originality/value This is a conceptual paper from which future theorising and research may arise to better understand the most fundamental causes of the abuse of older people in care homes (and elsewhere) in order to develop feasible and effective measures to overcome it.