Legal solitude and interagency solidarity

Abstract

This article is based on a study for a doctoral thesis addressesing the use social actors make of mechanisms provided by the Elderly Statute as a strategy for solving the drama of abandonment in institutions to support the elderly. This is an analysis of the role of criminalization of abandonment to solve the plight of the elderly who are without support at home, hospitals or nursing homes. Thus, this paper takes into account the historical sociological aspects of the boundaries between private and public solidarity, the conflicting representations in legal suits, the level of commitment by the government, the testimony of professionals who mediate between the legal decisions and the actors’ representatives directly involved in the issue.

Keywords

• Aging. Abandonment. Criminalization. Judicialization. Family.