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Abstract
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The authors identify a new syndrome of family violence--parent battering. Relevant dynamics include individual characteristics of the parent batterer, distortions in the generational authority hierarchy, the role of secrets and denial, and cultural influences. The authors conclude, on the basis of their clinical work with these families, that this subtype of family violence is distinct from child and spouse abuse.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this article by Harbin and Madden was to identify and describe the form of family violence known as parent battering from a psychiatric perspective and to examine its relationship with other forms of family violence.
METHODOLOGY:
A non-experimental, case study analysis was done focusing on the researchers' or colleagues' past clinical interactions with families (20) and fifteen families that were part of a pilot study of assaultive adolescents and their parents. Cases in which the adolescent was psychotic were excluded. The data were analyzed using qualitative techniques and presented in descriptive form.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
Eight of the fifteen teenagers had repeatedly attacked or threatened physical violence to their parents. The majority of the adolescents in the clinical cases (80%) were between the ages of thirteen and twenty-four. All assailants lived with their parents, were economically dependent, and the majority had also attacked another person in the home. A report cited in the study found that 10% of children aged 3-18 surveyed had attacked their parents. The dynamics of lethal and nonlethal parent assault were found to be different. Characteristics of parricide were severely disorganized and stressed families, often only one assaultive (lethal) action taken by the child, often associated with severe sexual and physical child abuse from the victim. There were too few cases to make solid arguments for qualitative differences from non-lethal parent attack. The most common pattern for non-lethal parent assault was repetitive attacks ranging from threatening behavior to actual physical assault on the parents, aged 40-70. In some cases the behavior was part of a family stress pattern, often occurring when the parent had upset the child and resulting in reward of the behavior through the parents' eventual concession. The majority of cases were males, but females have also exhibited this phenomenon. Preliminary themes of family dynamics which contribute were offered. Disturbance of family hierarchy either through no leadership or high levels of parental competition and subsequent adolescent control, exaggerated sense of self, and power. This parentification of the adolescent was found to result in much frustration for the teen with violence used as a means to control the family or replace the ineffective parents. Denial of the seriousness of the aggression by the parents was common. Protection of the teenager was seen frequently. This denial and protection manifested in avoidance of confrontation or open discussion of the violence, attempts by the family to minimize the seriousness of the violence, avoidance of punishment or inconsistent responses to inappropriate aggression, avoidance of punishment or inconsistent response to the inappropriate aggression, and refusal to ask for outside help. These patterns were similar to those of child and spousal abuse families. The myth of harmony was seen to allow the family to continue functioning as a unit. The experience of premature independence on the part of the child was also observed, but this was confounded with emotional dependence which traps the adolescent. Violence was seen to serve as a distancing mechanism for the adolescent from the parent usually related to some encroachment on the perpetrator's uncertain sense of self. In committing the violent act, separateness was achieved. Sociocultural factors, such as literary reference to parent abuse, contribute to the problem. All forms of domestic violence have been subject to inconsistency in society. Rights for women and children may disrupt family equilibrium, the authors argued, and contribute to family violence problems.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors recommended that families in general need to regain equilibrium and balanced structure more favorable to members' needs. Understanding the dynamics of youth emphasis, neglect of the aged, alienation from extended familial networks, it was argued, must be combined with individual and family dynamics in the clinical setting. Identification and treatment were claimed to be mandatory if the cycle of family violence is to be stopped.
EVALUATION:
These researchers have provided a preliminary look into violence in the family that has more or less been ignored--parent abuse. The emphasis on juveniles as offenders is a perspective that is much less often addressed than elder abuse. The dynamics of the family that lead to situations of violence need to be identified and treated, and here we see initial work done toward this end. Further research, both quantitative and qualitative, can draw initial directions from this work. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Domestic Violence Offender
KW - Domestic Violence Causes
KW - Parent Abuse Offender
KW - Parent Abuse Causes
KW - Adult Victim
KW - Parent Victim
KW - Offender Characteristics
KW - Parent Homicide
KW - Domestic Homicide
KW - Homicide Causes
KW - Homicide Offender
KW - Child Abuse Effects
KW - Child Abuse Victim
KW - Child Physical Abuse Effects
KW - Child Physical Abuse Victim
KW - Child Sexual Abuse Effects
KW - Child Sexual Abuse Victim
KW - Sexual Assault Effects
KW - Sexual Assault Victim
KW - Domestic Violence Effects
KW - Domestic Violence Victim
KW - Incest Effects
KW - Incest Victim
KW - Battered Children Who Kill
KW - Family Structure
KW - Juvenile Victim
KW - Child Victim
Language: en |