Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T09:52:09.799Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Parent Abuse by Young People on the Edge of Care: A Child Welfare Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2012

Nina Biehal*
Affiliation:
Social Policy Research Unit, University of York E-mail: nina.biehal@york.ac.uk

Abstract

This article reports on parent abuse by 112 young people within a sample of 209 families with adolescent children who were receiving family support services, presenting both young people and parents’ accounts of this abuse. Drawing on an analysis of quantitative data, it also reports on the characteristics, histories and circumstances of the young people and families and examines the predictors of parent abuse. Lone mothers were more likely to be victims of this abuse. Many of the young people had experienced maltreatment and those who had witnessed domestic violence were more likely to be violent to parents.

Type
Themed Section on Exploring Parent Abuse
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agnew, R. and Huguley, S. (1989) ‘Adolescent violence towards parents’, Journal of Marriage and Family, 51, 699711.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barker, E., Oliver, B. and Maughan, B. (2010) ‘Co-occurring problems of early onset persistent, childhood limited, and adolescent onset conduct problem youth’, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 11, 1217–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biehal, N. (2005a) Working with Adolescents: Supporting Families, Preventing Breakdown, London: BAAF.Google Scholar
Biehal, N. (2005b) ‘Working with adolescents at risk of out of home care: the effectiveness of specialist teams’, Children and Youth Services Review, 27, 9, 1045–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biehal, N. (2008) ‘Preventive services for adolescents: exploring the process of change’, British Journal of Social Work, 38, 3, 444–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brezina, T. (1999) ‘Teenage violence toward parents as an adaptation to family strain: evidence from national survey of male adolescents’, Youth and Society, 30, 416–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979) The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments in Nature and Design, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Browne, K. and Hamilton, C. (1998) ‘Physical violence between young adults and their parents: associations with a history of child maltreatment’, Journal of Family Violence, 13, 1, 5979.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Capaldi, D. M., Chamberlain, P. and Patterson, G. R. (1997) ‘Ineffective discipline and conduct problems in males: association, late adolescent outcomes, and prevention’, Aggression and Violent Behaviour, 2, 4, 343–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carpenter, G. and Stacks, A. (2009) ‘Developmental effects of exposures to intimate partner violence inearly childhood: a review of the literature’, Children and Youth Services Review, 31, 831–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cornell, C. and Gelles, R. (1982) ‘Adolescent to parent violence’, Urban Social Change Review, 15, 814.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. (1978) Manual of the General Health Questionnaire, The Bradford Medical Library, Windsor: NFER Publishing.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. and Williams, P. (1988) A User's Guide to the General Health Questionnaire, Windsor: NFER-Nelson.Google Scholar
Goodman, R. (1997) ‘The strengths and difficulties questionnaire: a research note’, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 5, 581–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamby, S., Finkelhor, D., Turner, H. and Ormrod, R. (2010) ‘The overlap of witnessing partner violence with child maltreatment and other victimisations in a nationally representative survey of youth’, Child Abuse and Neglect, 34, 10, 734–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harbin, H. and Madden, D. (1979) ‘Battered parents: a new syndrome’, American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 1288–91.Google ScholarPubMed
Hester, M., Pearson, C. and Harwin, N. (2007) Making an Impact: Children and Domestic Violence, A Reader, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.Google Scholar
Holt, A. (2011) ‘“The terrorist in my home”: teenagers violence towards parents – constructions of parent experiences in public online message boards’, Child and Family Social Work, published online before print 18 March 2011, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2206.2011.00760.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hunter, C., Nixon, J. and Parr, S. (2010) ‘Mother abuse: a matter of youth justice, child welfare or domestic violence?’, Journal of Law and Society, 37, 2, 264–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jaffee, S. and Kohn Maikovich-Fong, A. (2011) ‘Effects of chronic maltreatment and maltreatment timing on children's behavior and cognitive abilities’, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52, 2, 188–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kennair, N. and Mellor, D. (2007) ‘Parent abuse: a review’, Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 38, 203–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Larzelere, R. and Patterson, G. (1990) ‘Parental management: mediator of the effect of socio-economic status on early delinquency’, Criminology, 28, 301–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maccoby, E. and Martin, J. (1983) ‘Socialisation in the context of the family: parent–child interaction’, in Mussen, P. and Hetherington, E. (eds.), Handbook of Child Psychology, New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Meltzer, H. (2001) Children and Adolescents Who Try to Harm or Kill Themselves, London: National Statistics.Google Scholar
Meltzer, H., Gatward, R., Goodman, R. and Ford, T. (2000) The Mental Health of Children and Adolescents in Great Britain, London: The Stationery Office.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meltzer, H., Vostanis, P., Doos, L., Ford, T. and Goodman, R. (2009) ‘The mental health of children who witness domestic violence’, Child and Family Social Work, 14, 4, 491501.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munro, E. (2011) The Munro Review of Child Protection. Interim Report: The Child's Journey, London: Department for Education.Google Scholar
Nixon, J., Hunter, C., Myers, S., Parr, S. and Sanderson, D. (2006) ASB Intensive Family Support Projects: An Evaluation of Six Pioneering Projects, London: Department for Communities and Local Government.Google Scholar
Pagani, L., Tremblay, R., Nagin, D., Zoccolillo, M., Vitaro, F. and McDuff, P. (2004) ‘Risk factor models for adolescent verbal and physical agression towards mothers’, International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28, 6, 528–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parentline Plus (2008) ‘You can't say go and sit on the naughty step because they turn round and say make me.’ Aggressive Behaviour in Children: Parents Experiences and Needs, London: Parentline.Google Scholar
Parentline Plus (2010) When Family Life Hurts: Family Experience of Aggression in Children, London: Parentline.Google Scholar
Parr, S. (2009) ‘Family intervention projects: a site for social work practice’, British Journal of Social Work, 39, 1256–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, G. (1982) Coercive Family Process, Eugene, OR: Castalia.Google Scholar
Paulson, M., Coombs, R. and Landsverk, J. (1990) ‘Youth who physically assault their parents’, Journal of Family Violence, 5, 2, 121–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pawson, H., Davidson, E., Sosenko, F., Flint, J., Nixon, J., Casey, R. and Sanderson, D. (2009) Evaluation of Intensive Family Support Projects in Scotland, Edinburgh: Scottish Executive.Google Scholar
Rutter, A., Giller, H. and Hagell, A. (1998) Antisocial Behaviour by Young People, Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.Google Scholar
Sinclair, R., Garnett, L. and Berridge, D. (1995) Social Work and Assessment with Adolescents, London: National Children's Bureau.Google Scholar
Tew, J. and Nixon, J. (2010) ‘Parent abuse: opening up a discussion of a complex instance of family power relations’, Social Policy and Society, 9, 4, 579–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trickett, A. and McBride-Chang, C. (1995) ‘The developmental impact of different forms of child abuse and neglect’, Developmental Review, 15, 311–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Triseliotis, J., Borland, M., Hill, M. and Lambert, L. (1995) Teenagers and the Social Work Services, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Utting, D., Monteiro, H. and Ghate, D. (2007) Interventions for Children at Risk of Developing Antisocial Personality Disorder, London: Policy Research Bureau.Google Scholar