Undue Influence: Definitions and Applications - California Courts ...

they may hold in trust the intimate, wounded, vulnerable, or undeveloped parts of those they
serve. Clients suffering from psychological or spiritual injuries are considered to be particularly
vulnerable. Under these circumstances, patients and clients may develop emotional and
psychological dependencies on professionals. The nature of these relationships creates power
disparities in which the professionals hold high levels of power over those they serve.
Recognition of these power disparities have led to strong ethical, moral, and legal strictures
against accepting gifts or become sexually involved with clients or patients.
Attention to abuses of power by professionals have tended to focus on sexual contact and,
in particular, abuse by male professionals toward female clients. Because professional have the
greater power in these settings, sexual behavior is always prohibited regardless of who initiates it
or how willing clients appear to be. Because the dynamics of these situations are believed to
render victims unable to withhold consent, professionals have the responsibility to maintain the
boundaries (Rutter, 1991).
Summary of the Psychology of Undue Influence and Its Implications for Elder Abuse
The psychological studies described in this section provide rich insights into seemingly
paradoxical behavior. They have further identified factors that heighten vulnerability to unfair
persuasion and specific techniques or technologies used by controllers. They further suggest why
certain methods are successful with some subjects and not others, and suggest ways to prevent
manipulation. As new patterns of unfair persuasion are identified, researchers and practitioners
have attempted to determine if and when past explanations apply.
Although the settings and circumstance in which unfair persuasion has been identified are
far ranging, the tactics associated with them share many common elements. Tactics used to break
down victims’ resistance to persuasion that have been identified in multiple settings include
isolation, degradation, and the deprivation of food and information. Further, researchers have
attempted to pinpoint techniques, circumstances, or conditions that must be present to achieve
control in various settings. For example, in attempting to explain why some prisoners of war
switched loyalties or turned on fellow prisoners while others did not, researchers have attempted
to determine if it was the length of confinement, the infliction of pain, or other specific strategies
that were applied that ensured the desired results. Similarly, because the majority of hostages do
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