The June screening of the Channel 5 documentary My Violent Child, which attracted over 1.5 million viewers (available here till June 2015), stirred up some very mixed feelings. There is evidence (comments to Channel 5) that many families found it helpful in showing something of what they were themselves experiencing, thus validating their concerns and fears around living with violent teens. The Southampton practitioner and team featured have received many referrals and have developed their work further as a result. Yet other practitioners were seriously concerned by the possible effects of filming vulnerable young people, including graphic footage of their violent and abusive behaviour, as well as the shortage of positive, constructive answers for families shown in the film. I have blogged about this previously here. Continue reading
Author Archives: helenbonnick
Child to Parent Violence: European Perspectives
I am pleased to post details and the call for abstracts for the final conference of the Daphne Responding to Child to Parent Violence Project, to be held over two days in Brighton in January 2015. This has been a two year action research project comparing two separate responses to CPV and examining the development of awareness and work across five different European countries.
The conference is free to attend, but registration through the project website is essential. Continue reading
Filed under Research
Improving the response to family violence
News in Britain this week of the appointment of Seema Malhotra as shadow minister to tackle violence against women and girls, is presented as demonstrating a growing commitment in this country to combatting both domestic violence and related issues. At the same time, we have seen the launch of the No More Deaths campaign to put family violence at the top of the state election agenda in Victoria, Australia, where it is recognised that women and families have been failed over and over again by prevailing attitudes and culture, themselves embedded in official responses. (also here) Continue reading
Filed under news reports, publications
Video resources: understanding behaviour
I have recently come across the following resources, that may be of interest or use in work with parent abuse.
With Meerkat Brain, Jane Evans offers an easily digestible explanation of the neuroscience of why individuals are not always able to respond to instruction or reproof, and why traumatised children will need particular understanding and care. This is one of a number of similar models of brain operation, but one that people are reporting to be especially helpful.
Secondly, This video will change you in exactly 60 seconds, from BVC Network with thanks to Laurie Reid who brought it to my attention. Clearly there are many influences in a child’s life and no straightforward causal link between parent and child opinions or behaviour, but anyone who has watched a child teetering on high heels, following round with a dustpan and brush, or picking up a briefcase to head off “to work”, will attest to the power of imitation. Furthermore, previous exposure to, or the witnessing of, domestic violence is known to be the most frequent single issue in the background of families where children are violent to parents.
I’ll take the opportunity to link again to an animation from AVITH, which gives a very accessible overview of adolescent violence in the home for use with parents particularly, but would be helpful for anyone wanting to learn more. The film was made for use in Australia so the final advice may not be directly applicable to other situations. You can download it on the front page of the website.
Please do comment with other video resources which you have found and would like to share as useful in thinking about parent abuse or adolescent violence in the home.
Filed under TV and video
Leeds Practitioners’ Forum on Child-to-Parent Violence
I was very disappointed not to be able to attend the Practitioners’ Forum at Leeds University, but thrilled to present this review of the day from Dr Sam Lewis, which also gives links to all the presentations.
On 15th July a Practitioners’ Forum on Child-to-Parent Violence (CPV) was held in the School of Law at the University of Leeds. The event, which was organised by the University’s Centre for Criminal Justice Studies (CCJS), Leeds Youth Offending Services (YOS) and Wakefield Troubled Families Scheme, attracted over 100 delegates from different agencies and areas. Continue reading
Filed under conference report
The Respect Young People’s Programme: one year in.
The Respect Young People’s Programme (RYPP) has been running for just over a year now, and so it seemed like a good time to catch up with the director of the programme to hear how it’s been going. RYPP is an intervention for 10-16 year olds and their parents where the young person has used violence or aggressive behaviour towards a parent. Many thanks to Neil Blacklock of Respect, who has written this End of Year Report, with especial attention to lessons learnt. I was particularly interested to read about the management and organisational lessons, as this is an area which we do not address so often. Continue reading
Filed under projects
A new book about Adolescent Violence to Parents
I am pleased to post the following announcement, sent to me by Greg Routt and Lily Anderson.
Announcing the publication of a new book from Routledge on July 12, 2014 by the creators of Step Up in Seattle, Washington. Adolescent Violence in the Home Restorative Approaches to Building Healthy, Respectful Family Relationships Gregory Routt and Lily Anderson
Adolescent Violence in the Home examines a form of violence that has a profound impact on families but is often overlooked and frequently misunderstood: teen aggression and violence toward members of their family—especially parents. Adolescent Violence in the Home uses a restorative framework, developed by the authors and in use in court systems and organizations around the world, to situate violent behaviors in the context of power and the inter generational cycle of violence. Readers will come away from this book with a profound understanding of the social and individual factors that lead youth to use violence and how adolescent violence affects parents, and they’ll also learn about a variety of interventions that specifically address teen violence against parents. Continue reading
Filed under publications
Writing about violence from children
Recently I have been contacted by a number of people also blogging about teenage violence, or about diagnoses associated with children exhibiting violence to their parents or others.
Understanding PDA is a website / blog by Jane Sherwin, bringing a wealth of experience about Pathological Demand Avoidance Syndrome, including a helpful booklet which explains the syndrome for professionals as well as parents, and sharing strategies that have worked with her nine year old daughter. Continue reading
Filed under projects
Daphne RCPV Conference in Galway
The recent conference in Galway, hosted by the National University of Ireland in Galway, was an opportunity to hear about progress on the RCPV project and to meet the participants from around Europe, to learn more about NVR, and to meet practitioners from Ireland in particular who are already engaged in work with families experiencing violence from their children. Continue reading
Filed under conference report
HOLES IN THE WALL 