Question

Samantha lives next door to a ninety-year-old woman named Ruth. She usually sees Ruth every couple of days in her garden. Recently, Ruth's son Joseph moved in with his mother. Samantha has heard yelling and screaming coming from Ruth's house and has not seen Ruth in several weeks. When she goes over to visit Ruth, Joseph answers the door and will not let Samantha in the house. What should Samantha consider as a first step?

Answer 1

The best answer to the question: What should Samantha consider as a first step, would be: reporting the events she has witnessed, and her suspicions, to the proper authorities, first on the elderly abuse hotlines.

Step-by-step explanation:

Because Samantha only has suspicions, and she has not actually seen anything, but she has heard certain things that further feed her suspicion, she should communicate these to the hotlines that are established all over the country to report abuse, be it against women, children, or the elderly. Since her neighbor, Ruth, is an elderly woman, and since Samanta has heard the screaming and yelling, and furthermore she has not seen her neighbor for a long time, with the added problem that the son, Joseph, will not let her see Ruth, then Samantha needs to report this immediately to the lines specialized for it. After that, Samantha cannot do much more. The case must be handled by the proper authorities.