Child to parent violence - an exploration of non-violent resistance

Abstract

Until relatively recently, there has been very limited research on the aggressive and violent behaviour of children and adolescents who abuse their parents at home. This form of family violence has been poorly understood in practice, policy and research. Employing constructivist grounded theory and mixed methods research designs, this action research project explored child and family practitioners’ experiences and perceptions of intervention with child to parent violence in Ireland. Research participants were from a variety of agencies and disciplines in Dublin and the Mid-West areas. An integral part of the research involved the development of a training programme, adapting the Non Violent Resistance Programme (Omer 2004; Weinblatt & Omer 2008) for use in Ireland. It also explored the practitioners’ responses to the training programme and the underlying model for understanding and responding to child to parent violence.