'Bullying among older adults by Kathie C. Garbe, PhD, MCHES

"Bullying behavior doesn't just happen on the playground or the school cafeteria anymore," shares Robin P. Bonifas, PhD, MSW. "Older-adult bullies really do exist in all types of communities." An associate professor in the University of Arizona's School of Social Work and the vice-president of the Association of Gerontology Education in Social Work, Bonifas has been studying resident-to-resident aggression among older adults, specifically bullying behavior, for a number of years. She also wrote a book on the topic .... Bonifas sees bullying behavior as a consequence of some concerns people have about getting older as well as some issues characteristic of living in communal settings. In this interview for the Journal on Active Aging, she provides an overview of peer-to-peer bullying among older adults, the impact it has on individuals as well as the living environment, and the issues that must be addressed to increase awareness and prevent bullying behavior.