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
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.
Filed under news reports
“Shatter the Silence”
Another moving video about parent abuse, this one from Joey Chan in Hong Kong.
Chan calls for a comprehensive solution based on three steps:
* Encouraging more parental care and communication
* Governmental support including counselling and psychological services
* Law enforcement as an extreme resort
Filed under TV and video
Non-Violent Resistance: the story so far
Of the different techniques and programmes in place to work with parents experiencing abuse from their children, the one we seem to hear least about (at least in the UK) is Non-Violent Resistance. As part of the EU-funded research into effective methods of work with families, Paula Wilcox of the University of Brighton has been examining evidence for this programme. Non-Violent Resistance was first developed in Israel and later adapted by a team led by Declan Coogan in Ireland. In this piece, written specifically for Holes in the Wall, Declan Coogan gives a brief introduction to its methods, use and effectiveness. Continue reading
Filed under Discussion, Training opportunities
Responding to Child to Parent Violence, “Hope when I had none”
This video of the official launch of the research project based at Brighton University was posted on YouTube on May 9th this year. It’s an hour and a quarter long but worth watching, or dipping into, for a flavour of the project’s aims, the current situation in the partner countries and more detail about the two intervention methods being assessed: Non-violent Resistance and the Break4Change model. The title of the post comes from a parent interviewed for a short film, shown within the video, and certainly the theme of hope is one which comes through strongly throughout. Continue reading
Filed under projects, TV and video
Speaking to the media
This is a bit of a different post to usual. I’ve alluded to the interest of the media in parent abuse in recent weeks, but as this has come up over and over again recently I thought it worth a mention in its own right. In a nutshell, the question seems to be, how do we reconcile our desire to raise awareness of parent abuse and the need for greater service provision, with our duty to protect the families we work with from further harm?
Over the years that I’ve been tracking this, child to parent violence, or parent abuse, has been covered in what we’ll call a “positive” way in various media: in the local and national press, in professional publications as well as academic journals, in a popular weekly magazine, on radio news and magazine programmes, in TV drama and documentary, in film and on YouTube; and those are just the ones I’ve caught. It’s also attracted attention in more dramatic and contraversial ways through programmes such as Dr Phil, where families are “paraded” in front of audiences who have chosen to be present for motives which, it’s probably fair to say, don’t include the hope of witnessing a complex, sensitive process of restoring healthy family relationships. Then there’s the other side of the story in the context of the long-term failure of mainstream agencies to respond to families experiencing abuse from their children. How will the professionals come out of this? Do we really want to put ourselves through further grief at a time when the drive is rather to find positive stories of social work involvement to bring balance to the argument? Continue reading
Filed under Discussion
“A thought-provoking and well-structured summary”
Amanda Holt’s recent ground-breaking book received a very positive review in the April 2013 issue of the British Journal of Social Work. Adolescent to Parent Abuse: Current Understandings in Research, Policy and Practice was published by the Policy Press in December 2012.
Teresa Cleary, Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Anglia Ruskin University, describes the work as “a thought-provoking and well-structured summary of the largely uncharted territory of adolescent-to-parent abuse”, concluding, “This book offers a well evidenced academic argument as to why adolescent-to-parent abuse should be given more attention by researchers and policy makers like and that parents should be allowed to come forward as ‘victims’ without fear of blame or punitive response.”
Filed under publications
Training session for parents
I’m very excited to post this flyer about a training day specially designed for parents and carers experiencing abuse from their children.
This morning session on June 29th, offered at no cost to participants, follows on from 3 days of training for practitioners working with abused parents, organised by Ipswich borough council, and will be led by Eddie Gallagher. (Booking details on the flyer.)
It’s not often that parents and carers are offered this chance and so I hope that it will reach as wide an audience as possible.
Filed under Training opportunities
HOLES IN THE WALL 