Category Archives: news reports

by | September 16, 2013 · 7:28 am

Trouble in the Troubled Families Department

I have a sort of Love-Hate relationship with the Trouble Families Programme and so I like to keep abreast of developments and opinion as it unfolds, for instance the announcement last week on September 10th that 14,000 families have now been ‘turned around’.

I am torn between the belief that intensive family support can be extremely productive – and that this is in fact what brought many folk into social work in the first place – and the concern about the turn such a model of intervention has taken on the current government’s watch. Intensive Family Support Programmes have a proud heritage and it is from them, significantly, that we have learnt much about children’s violence to parents in the UK. Continue reading →

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by | September 9, 2013 · 11:48 am

Elder Abuse: Is this the same thing as parent abuse?

In June 2006 an article in the Times newspaper reported on  a parliamentary Health Committee inquiry, set up in 2003 and prompted by estimates that up to 50,000 of Britain’s elderly were subject to abuse from relatives and carers. The inquiry declared the abuse of the elderly to be Britain’s “last hidden abuse scandal.” This weekend the Observer has reported on former health minister, Paul Burstow’s concern that figures show as many as 370,000 older people were abused in their home last year  – a “hidden national scandal” – and that the number is likely to increase to nearly half a million by the end of the decade. These figures are based on data extrapolated from a survey of 2000 people in 2007. Nevertheless, they suggest that this is a story that has captured the imagination of those in power. Continue reading →

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by | August 24, 2013 · 12:55 pm

Parent abuse roulette

It’s hard not to feel a sense of helplessness – as well as fury – when reading pieces such as this from the Orlando Sentinel last week. Reporter, Kate Santich, has put together a litany of examples of extreme violence from children towards their parents, but finds little in the way of help: thresholds for intervention not met, parents charged with abandonment, children locked up without attempts to investigate or change behaviour, and in a nation where therapeutic support must be paid for. She reports on the situation in the States, yet the examples could be from anywhere. Continue reading →

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by | July 15, 2013 · 10:05 am

The law of unintended consequences

Today see the roll out of the welfare benefits cap across England, Wales and Scotland. What we are supposed to expect is that this will encourage families to find work or move to a different, cheaper area to live. Sadly, what we may see is a rise in violence and family break up. The Enemy Within, the 2012 report from the charity 4Children, using data from a specially commissioned YouGov Family Violence survey, highlights redundancy, long-term unemployment and serious financial worries as the major contributory factor in family violence. The dual pronged budgetary cuts to benefits and funding of services are thus especially worrying. Continue reading →

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by | June 27, 2013 · 12:17 pm

Understanding is everything

You may have caught the controversial coverage of comments made a few weeks ago by a mother of 4 children with ADHD, the youngest of whom is violent to her on a daily basis. (Here and here) Jenny Young, herself diagnosed with ADHD, stated that if her husband had been violent in the same way she would have left him, and if her son were a dog she would have had him put down. But for parents like her there is no choice: “There isn’t a refuge for battered Mums”. Cue national outrage. Continue reading →

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by | June 20, 2013 · 2:48 pm

No rules about controlling relationships

Coverage of an assault by Charles Saatchi on his wife Nigella Lawson, outside a London restaurant at the weekend, has sparked considerable debate in the press and on social media – not least as to why people felt it was OK to photograph and document events, rather than intervene.

Writing in the Telegraph, Iris McCann and Dr. Petra Boynton have used the opportunity to discuss the different faces of domestic abuse, and to offer advice to those who recognise their experience. Continue reading →

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by | June 7, 2013 · 10:24 am

Teens see violence as normal

Eddie Gallagher has drawn my attention to an article in www.dailylife.com.au, commenting on an apparent rise in domestic violence crimes in New South Wales involving juveniles as the aggressor. (A 6.5% increase between 2008 and 2012 in the 10 -17 age group) This increase comes at a time when overall figures from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research show a decline in juvenile crime in every other area, and has sparked concerns that teens now see aggression as a normal part of life. Continue reading →

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by | June 4, 2013 · 10:43 am

Adolescent to parent abuse: the facts

I was interested to be sent this fact sheet recently, by Heather Nancarrow, Director of the Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research, CQ University. The leaflet was produced to support parents who might be experiencing abuse from their children, with clear outlines of what counts as abusive behaviour, recognising how parents may be feelings and reminding them of their right to live free of abuse and violence. It is distributed (among other places) to police stations, one of the key places parents may first seek help. The addresses and contact details are of course only relevant to Australia, but the information given is useful to all; and the layout and presentation very attention grabbing.

It was one such leaflet that prompted this article in the Gladstone Observer, on May 31st.

The reporter took the opportunity to interview a police officer and a youth worker involved in supporting parents, as well as Nancarrow. Parents are urged to start disciplining their children early, recognise the signs of parent abuse, and to come forward for help if necessary. The article is a little confused in its structure, but its good to see the issue of child to parent violence receiving attention and recognition in the media again.

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by | May 7, 2013 · 1:15 pm

Restorative Justice: the positive story

Some lively discussion on the BBC last week around the use of “informal” community responses to violent crime, including Restorative Justice practice, focused on adult crime. As well as a rather dismissive tone in the description of these techniques as “informal”, one of the main concerns in discussion was with regard to the inappropriateness of restorative justice in the case of domestic violence, where vulnerable women in particular may be pressured into accepting “unreal” apologies from perpetrators. But of course the story may be very different with children and adolescents using violence in the home, where restorative techniques have been found to be extremely positive, enabling children to acknowledge their abusive behaviour, restoring family relationships and avoiding the criminalisation that might otherwise follow involvement in the youth justice system. Continue reading →

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by | February 28, 2013 · 5:16 pm

The hidden abuse by children on parents – News and events – University of Brighton

The very first post on this blog was with regards to research into Child to Parent violence, with news of work undertaken at the University of Brighton, led by Dr Paula Wilcox.

So it has been exciting to see multiple references in the British media over the last week to this particular research project, acknowledging the award of a £641,000 grant from the European Commission under the Daphne 111 programme.  The project will assess the effectiveness of two existing intervention models ‘Break4Change’ (also featured earlier here) and ‘Non Violent Resistance’ from a gendered perspective across five European countries – Bulgaria, Ireland, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

More details of the research can be found in this news release from the University of Brighton.

The hidden abuse by children on parents – News and events – University of Brighton.

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