When I reported recently on the legislative proposals being put forward in Florida, some people expressed concern that the response to children’s violence to their parents was taking a very punitive turn, rather than seeking to support the family through therapeutic interventions. While some would argue that there will always be a need for a criminal justice response in extreme situations I was pleased to hear about an organisation offering a different approach. Breaking the Cycle, describing themselves as “the leading voice on child to parent abuse and violence“, offer a family intervention program and are hosting 2 conferences in the next weeks. There are more details on their website which details the background and theories informing their work.
A bit of a headache over neuroscience
I wrote at the end of March about the impact of work on brain development to understanding about parent abuse, and so I initially found the recent very public spat about the validity of claims being made for neuroscience rather unsettling. A week further on, after hours spent reading and rereading, the main lessons to be taken away from the controversy about the use and abuse of neuroscience seem to be: to think about the agenda of the person writing, not to make extravagant claims for something, and to read things carefully before commenting! Continue reading
Filed under Discussion
Child to parent violence: round the world in a week
A lot more bits and pieces from around the world in the last weeks…..
Good to see the Daphne RCPV website is now up and running. You will find it here, with information about the project and research as a whole, conferences and training events linked to the programme, ways to get involved and a link to the RCPV blog. Recent posts cover the progress of the research in the different participating countries: Sweden, Spain, Bulgaria and Ireland. Continue reading
Filed under Discussion, projects, publications, Research, Training opportunities
Child to Parent Violence: The Adoption Issue
A couple of years ago I was asked to write something about child to parent violence with reference to adoptive families. For a variety of reasons I wrote something with an entirely different focus, and in retrospect I’m glad I did. I had met and interviewed an adoptive mother as part of my Masters research but, while acknowledging that an adopted child might bring issues from their early life to a new family, I had no real understanding at that time of early trauma and its effect on attachment and behaviour. Continue reading
Filed under publications, Research
Child to Parent Violence: the Learning Issue
I offer you a round up of various items that have cropped up in the last weeks, all with something of a learning theme, hence the title of the post.
A third year postgraduate Clinical Counselling student at the University of Chester, Jennifer Thomas, is looking for participants for her dissertation research, title: Exploring the place of counselling for parents who have lived with child-to-parent violence. This is specifically with reference to individual counselling for parents, rather than programmes working with the family. If you would like to know more, or know any one else who can help, I will be happy to pass on your details to Jennifer. Continue reading
Filed under publications, Research, Training opportunities
Adolescent to Parent Violence: An open seminar from Edge Hill University and the British Society of Criminology
The majority of the parent abuse research in the UK has come out of the criminology discipline, and so it was fitting that the Criminology Research Group at Edge Hill University chose Adolescent to Parent Violence as the topic for the first open seminar in a new series sponsored by the British Society of Criminology. Three presentations: from Helen Baker, Simon Retford and Amanda Holt, brought us up to date with some of the current issues being considered. Continue reading
Filed under conference report
Understanding trauma as a precursor to parent abuse
Reading around, and attending conferences recently, I have been impressed with the work of practitioners in the area of early childhood trauma, such as Jane Evans and Kate Cairns. Understanding of the physiological impact of stress, fear and uncertainty makes sense of children’s later behaviour, when apparently innocuous events can trigger responses which may not even be understood by the child themselves. This is particularly pertinent to the field of parent abuse where it has been suggested that almost half of abusing young people have experienced domestic violence in their past or current home life.
Watching film such as this, makes it all the more real. Originally made to raise awareness in the training of foster parents, ReMoved shows the devastating emotional impact on children of living with domestic violence.
ReMoved stands as a powerful and eloquent call for early intervention to enable children to be safe, and to come to terms with their experiences.
Filed under Discussion, Film
Responding to Adolescent Violence to Parents: A fruitful day in Kent
The Responding to Adolescent to Parent Violence conference in Kent last week was envisaged as a step in the process of developing a multi-agency county-wide strategy in addressing APV, and the organisers, Kent Integrated Youth Service, are to be commended for the thought with which the day-long event was planned.
Participants from the integrated youth service, the police and secure estate, health, education, children’s services, and voluntary organisations were first given a broad sweeping introduction to the topic, before hearing from a range of projects currently engaged in work, and having a chance to make their own contribution. Workshops included listening to a presentation of the work of various groups and then considering how their approach could be adopted or adapted in Kent. Continue reading
Filed under conference report
A call to end violence against women and girls, revised action plan 2014
The revised edition of the Home Office’s ‘A Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls’ Action Plan (2014) has just been published and now includes specific references to child to parent violence, with two actions (reference 63 and 139) ‘Develop and disseminate information for practitioners working with children and families on how to identify and address the risks posed by adolescent to parent violence’. These are new and fall within the joint remit of the Home Office and Youth Justice Board, to be addressed by December 2014 and April 2015 respectively. Continue reading
Filed under publications
Parent abuse, news around the world
Florida State Senator, Geraldine Thompson, announced a bill this week to give protection to parents experiencing violence and abuse from their children. If passed, it would become the nation’s first parent abuse law. The bill, SB-904, Abuse of a Parent, which has already been filed would define parent abuse, make it a reportable crime and allow for criminal penalties. Homer Hartage, former County Commissioner and founder of the Parent Abuse Action Coalition has campaigned for better protection with the family of Rosemary Pate who was killed by her son in 2013. There is increasing awareness that this is not a small problem. According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 1,645 parents in Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Lake counties were victimized by their children — physically or sexually — in 2012, the latest statistics available. There has some been concern aired that legislation and criminalisation will not better protect families on its own, but should be accompanied by therapeutic interventions such as treatment and counselling. You can read the news coverage here and here. Continue reading
Filed under Film, news reports, publications
HOLES IN THE WALL 