Adolescent to parent violence: the police response to parents reporting violence from their children

Abstract

Adolescent to parent violence is a form of family violence that is currently unrecognised in official discourse and statistics, despite increasing evidence that it is a significant problem. The data underpinning this article have been derived from the first large-scale study in the UK specifically exploring adolescent to parent violence, which examined the extent and nature of this problem, families’ experiences, and how reports of adolescent to parent violence are responded to within and outside of the criminal justice system. The article draws upon analysis of 100 police case files and interviews with 20 police officers to critically examine current police policy and practice in this emerging area of criminal justice. The findings highlight a high level of police discretion leading to inconsistency in how reported incidents are managed and the challenges encountered by police in responding to this complex form of family violence. The findings are considered within a broader domestic violence policy framework and we conclude by considering how police policy and practice might be developed in this area to meet the complex needs of families experiencing adolescent to parent violence.

Keywords:

• adolescent to parent violence
• child to parent violence
• parent abuse
• police
• domestic violence

Notes

1. Incidents identified as domestic violence invoke relevant police policy and are highlighted on the police database as domestic violence

2. Fifty case files and 10 interviews derived from a London Metropolitan Borough force; 50 case files and 10 interviews derived from a Home Counties force.

3. For the purposes of this analysis, parents reporting violence are termed ‘victims’ and adolescents using violence against their parents are termed ‘perpetrators’. It is acknowledged, however, that ‘perpetrators’ may also be secondary victims of domestic violence and that the boundary between victim and perpetrator may be blurred in this complex form of family violence (see Condry and Miles 2014).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the ESRC under grant [grant number RES-061-25-0392].