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
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
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
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
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
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
A year ago I spotted a piece in the Hertfordshire local press about a big lottery grant awarded to a new project working with families experiencing child to parent violence. Last week Hertfordshire Practical Parenting Programme celebrated a successful year, and invited me to join them for a reception.
Sandra Ashley, Director (second left), Carole Hassell (right), Geoff Ogden from the Management Team and Carol Lewis (left ), pictured above, were joined by local councilors, Chris Mitchell, Paul Seeby, John Barfoot , the Broxbourne MP Charles Walker. Dunston Patterson from the Youth Justice Board, and representatives from the local Parks Department and police were also present. Continue reading
Filed under projects
You can find more details of this conference on June 26th, and the accompanying training workshops on June 27th and 28th, on the Events and Training page – but the flyer is so colourful I wanted to put it here as well. Enjoy!
Filed under Training opportunities
Great to hear a six minute piece about parent abuse on the BBC Radio 4 flagship Today programme this morning. (8.22am – 8.28am) Also available from the BBC website here.
Joe Lettieri, from PAARS, was interviewed, and there were 2 clips from interviews with parents. One was a single parent who had experienced escalating abuse from her son (now aged 12) for the last 10 years, and the other a “middle class” mother whose daughter had become physically violent to her only recently, but who had been abusive in other ways prior to this. Both commented that it was the verbal abuse that they found the hardest to take, despite accounts of really quite severe physical injuries. Attention was drawn also to the shame and stigma experienced by parents: “I feel like I’m a rubbish Mum”. Continue reading
Filed under Discussion, radio and video, Research
HOLES IN THE WALL 