Tag Archives: Family violence

A hidden form of family violence

Judy Nixon, Professor of Social Governance at Sheffield Hallam University, introduces findings from her recent research in this video from Research in Practice. The overwhelming message is that we need to talk about parent abuse more, in order to raise awareness and bring it eventually to policy makers’ attention.

 

Update October 2017: It looks like this vimeo may no longer be available to view. I would welcome information about a more up to date link.

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More domestic violence on Woman’s Hour

Today’s edition (June 29th 2011 ) of Woman’s Hour included an interview with Professor Dieter Wolke and the agony aunt and family counsellor, Suzie Hayman, regarding sibling bullying. There has been a real upsurge in the exploration of, and understanding about, different kinds of violence experienced within the family, and it is exciting to see this knowledge being given such prominence. It was inevitably a somewhat superficial overview. Professor Wolke worked hard to ensure parents weren’t left feeling as if they were to blame, but there was little concrete help or advice at the end of the interview. Jenni Murray was keen to underline that sibling bullying can amount to domestic violence. It will be interesting to see how this is received and how it adds to the general discussion of violence within the family

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You wait around for years and then two come along together!

Five years ago, when I first began seriously investigating parent abuse, the studies and research papers were largely coming out of Canada, Australia and the USA. The statistics available came from relatively few older studies and were considered unreliable because of the ways they were obtained – the types of questions asked, who they were asked of, numbers involved etc. Nevertheless, they had served to highlight that this was a real issue and one which would not go away. Questions were being asked: how big a problem was this really? Was it confined to certain ethnic or socioeconomic groups, what were the causes, and what sorts of help were effective? Importantly, another question was emerging, as to how we should understand the phenomenon, from a sociological / feminist point of view – was it linked with domestic violence, or with youth crime and delinquency? Continue reading →

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