Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- List of Cases
- Chapter 1 An Introduction to Domestic Abuse and Human Rights
- Chapter 2 The Nature of Domestic Abuse
- Chapter 3 The ECHR, the Istanbul Convention and Domestic Abuse
- Chapter 4 Legal Responses to Domestic Abuse
- Chapter 5 Domestic Abuse and Children
- Chapter 6 The Abuse of Parents by Children
- Chapter 7 Elder Abuse
- Chapter 8 Concluding Thoughts
- Index
- About the Author
Chapter 6 - The Abuse of Parents by Children
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2021
- Frontmatter
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- List of Cases
- Chapter 1 An Introduction to Domestic Abuse and Human Rights
- Chapter 2 The Nature of Domestic Abuse
- Chapter 3 The ECHR, the Istanbul Convention and Domestic Abuse
- Chapter 4 Legal Responses to Domestic Abuse
- Chapter 5 Domestic Abuse and Children
- Chapter 6 The Abuse of Parents by Children
- Chapter 7 Elder Abuse
- Chapter 8 Concluding Thoughts
- Index
- About the Author
Summary
INTRODUCTION
So far, this book has focused on the legal response to couples who are cohabiting. In this chapter and Chapter 7, the vision will be broadened to cover other forms of abuse and to consider whether we need to broader our vision of what constitutes domestic abuse in order to cover abuse within relationships more generally. Attention will be paid to two topics in particular: parental abuse and elder abuse. As already indicated in the discussion in Chapter 2, the approach adopted to intimate relationship abuse can apply in a far wider range of circumstances than the traditional cohabiting couple context. In this chapter, the focus will be on how applying the general approach advocated in this book can raise particular issues to parent abuse.
Parentline was a telephone help service set up by the UK government to advise parents facing difficulties in around 2002. Staffwere trained on the issues that were likely to arise: children who would not eat vegetables; babies who kept waking in the night; and bedwetting. But a large number of the calls received were about something completely different. A total of 27% of parents complained of children abusing them. As the Parentline report put it:
Children shouting, swearing, spitting, pushing, kicking, punching, even threatening with or using weapons against their parents and other family members is the shocking reality facing many families today.
Parental abuse has received relatively little attention. In part this is because it challenges fundamental preconceptions about childhood, parenthood and families. It also defies legal categorisation. As Rachel Condry points out:
Adolescent-to-parent violence does not fall within official definitions of domestic violence and the problem has remained largely unarticulated within the fields of youth justice, domestic violence, policing and criminology, particularly in the UK.
The issue falls between the stools of legal categories of domestic abuse, child abuse and criminal behaviour. This chapter will explore what a human rights analysis might add to this. First, more needs to be said about the prevalence and nature of parental abuse.
STATISTICS
Reliable data on the prevalence of parental abuse is hard to find. Few cases are reported to the authorities and so researchers have to rely on self-reporting. Also, as will be seen below, there is little agreement on the definition of parental abuse. Amanda Holt in her overview of the research finds its prevalence varies from 7% to 29% of parents.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Domestic Abuse and Human Rights , pp. 195 - 214Publisher: IntersentiaPrint publication year: 2020