Great to see Amanda Holt’s book published this week!
This represents a real milestone in acknowledgement of the issue of parent abuse, with the first academic book entirely devoted to the issue in Britain. Not quite the go-to book for Christmas present ideas maybe, but definitely one to slip through for yourself.
You can read more about it on the Policy Press blog.
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The Adfam / AVA report into how parents deal with children who use substances and perpetrate abuse, “Between a rock and a hard place”, launched yesterday at the House of Commons, catalogues the shocking experiences of parents and their attempts to access support. Continue reading
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Dr Helen Baker has kindly sent me details of an article which was published in Criminal Justice Matters in March this year, Exploring how teenage boys are constructed in relation to parent abuse. The full citation is: Helen Baker (2012): Exploring how teenage boys are constructed in relation to parent abuse, Criminal Justice Matters, 87:1, 48-49
She develops these ideas further in the Social Policy and Society themed issue, of April 2012 issue (Vol. 11, issue 2), Problematising the Relationship between Teenage Boys and Parent Abuse: Constructions of Masculinity and Violence, in a paper which was first presented at a symposium at Sheffield Hallam University in March 2010.
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A lot has been written about the difficulties in adopting a safeguarding response to the issue of parent abuse. First of all, it falls outside the normative model of child as victim, to which the responses are generally geared; and the safeguarding of vulnerable adults guidance is not usually applied to the parents in these situations, as they are not considered vulnerable within the specific terms. Continue reading
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The online version of this journal article in Child and Family Social Work is now available. Amanda Holt and Simon Retford examine and discuss the ad hoc responses of nine particular practitioners, in one large county in England, to instances of parent abuse in their caseloads. Without clear guidance or a national strategy there is a sense that people must “make do”.
“The study concludes with suggestions for change for the benefit of families who seek support but who currently find little effective response.”
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An inspiring talk from Amanda Holt yesterday at Surrey University, based on her forthcoming book: Adolescent-to-Parent Abuse: Current Understandings in Research, Policy and Practice. The book, from Policy Press, due out in November this year, will be the first academic text on parent abuse to be published in Britain. Offering a thorough overview of the subject, Amanda first considered the similarities and differences with other forms of family violence; and then went on to examine what we can learn from the different types of data available. Continue reading
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The journal, Social Policy and Society, is carrying a themed section entitled Exploring Parent Abuse, in the April 2012 issue (Vol. 11, issue 2), with a series of nine articles.
Parent Abuse: Can Law Be the Answer? Caroline Hunter and Christine Piper
Practitioners’ Constructions of Parent Abuse, Judy Nixon
Parent Abuse by Young People on the Edge of Care: A Child Welfare Perspective, Nina Biehal
Is Parent Abuse a Form of Domestic Violence? Paula Wilcox
Researching Parent Abuse: A Critical Review of the Methods, Amanda Holt
Some Useful Sources, Caroline Hunter and Judy Nixon
It is certainly good to see the growth in interest and research in the field of parent abuse within Britain.
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The UK charity 4Children issued a press release yesterday with the publication of their new report, The Enemy Within. As part of their Give me Strength campaign, 4Children commissioned YouGov to survey parents with children under the age of 18. “The report reveals the way in which children and parents can be both victims and perpetrators of family conflict – with the evidence suggesting that violence is more widespread within the family than was perhaps previously thought.”
The full report can be downloaded from the 4Children website or here. The recommendations are particularly positive, with their call for a redefinition of violence within families, a refocussing on the whole family and the raising of awareness among professionals of the extent of the problem, among others.
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The violence without a name: this article was first printed in the March 2012 issue of Professional Social Work, a publication of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW)
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Following a very successful launch of the Respectful Relationships project, Mary McKenna has made both the “Walking on Eggshells” parent information leaflet and the wallet card available to download. The support service information and contact numbers, and details regarding police involvement, are of course specific to South Australia, but most of the additional information is generic and transferable. They can be accessed from the Flinders University website. She has sent a link to a very positive response from a state Member of Parliament who attended the launch.
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HOLES IN THE WALL 