We hear a lot about the cross-over between domestic abuse and child to parent violence (CPV), but significantly less about how CPV is to be understood within a child abuse and protection framework. This is an area of work dear to my own heart, and one that has also been the focus of some research in the Netherlands. Recently Dutch researcher, Dr Remy Vink, was tweeting about a conference she had attended, and she kindly agreed to be interviewed about it for the blog.
Understanding parent abuse within a child protection framework
Filed under conference report, Research
A letter from the RCPV steering group
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
We would like to invite you to attend the Brighton & Hove Responding to Child to Parent Violence RCPV Conference.
Child to Parent Violence: European Perspectives
Wednesday 28th & Thursday 29th January 2015
University of Brighton, England
It would be fantastic if you could join us in sharing the learning and experiences of how we have been working with Child to Parent Violence in England, Bulgaria, Ireland, Spain and Sweden. Brighton & Hove City Council with the University of Brighton, Rise & AudioActive have worked together in this European funded initiative. The conference will give you the chance to explore the subject in relevant and interactive ways, hearing from and talking with experts from across England and Europe. Please download the registration form here.
The deadline for submitting an abstract for the Conference is 27 October 2014. Go to the project website to download the flyers for the conference and abstract call, to find more information, or to register for the conference.
We look forward to seeing you at the conference.
With kind regards,
Michelle Pooley
On behalf of the RCPV Steering Group
Keeping it in the news
Please note that the details of the Hull story have been amended since this was first posted.
In my last post I ruminated on the importance of keeping the momentum going, so that the issue of parent abuse does not get forgotten or move out of the public consciousness. The last weeks have certainly seen a number of news articles, training events and publications that have contributed to maintaining a good level of awareness. Continue reading
Filed under Discussion, news reports, projects, publications, Training opportunities
More news about “My Violent Child”
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
Filed under Discussion, TV
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
HOLES IN THE WALL 