A recent podcast discusses questions about child and adolescent to parent violence and abuse (CAPA): what it is, how to identify it compared to other behavioural concerns, when and why this form of abuse occurs, and how social workers should respond?

Helen Bonnick (a social worker specialised in CAPA), and Jane Griffiths (Parent-child therapist), shared their experiences in a podcast: link.

Jane Griffiths said ‘adolescent-to-parent abuse is any behaviour used by a young person to control, dominate or coerce parents. It is intended to threaten and intimidate, and puts the family safety at risk’. It's common that children and teenagers challenge the boundaries and test parents’ limit. The issue arises when parents are in fear, or when the relationship changes to an abusive one. And not just once, but in a repeating pattern.

The typical assumption stands that ‘poor parenting’ is to blame, but experts often see parents are trying very hard to control the situation. For child care professionals, the question is if an early trauma or something in the child’s development, or later trauma (e.g. grief or hard to deal with emotions) contributed to the situation. They are many victims of domestic abuse or mental illness. Learning disabilities can be in the background as well. But often things come together for these vulnerable children who are suffering and want to let adults know about their distress and that they need help.

Working with families we should help them understand where power lies and how to take back control. We should also help to define clear boundaries and small changes that will let the child know, ‘I am the parent. I am going to take responsibility and I am going to take this relationship back to the place where it needs to be’. Only after many conversations and in certain circumstances should the police be involved as well. 

 

Countries this relates to
Projects and thematic pages
Topics
Tags

Childhub

You might like..

0
48
What is Parental Alienation? It occurs when a relationship breaks down, a parent tries to make the child turn away from the other parent. This is because one parent wants total control over the child and uses him/her as a tool in making the other…
0
8
A survey shows that in the UK, 75% of 8,500 parents have co-slept with their baby at some point. Co-sleeping, especially under dangerous circumstances, increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Around 133 babies die each year in co-…
0
24
Local Government Association (LGA), which represents English Councils, claims that based on surveys, the 53% rise in child protection cases is caused mainly by domestic violence, conflicts, drugs, and alcohol. Substance misuse caused 80% of…
0
1
In the light of the ongoing reform of The Vulnerable Witnesses (Criminal Evidence) Bill in Scotland, the Scottish Parliament's justice committee approved the measure moving to use more pre-recorded evidence in court trials, inspired by the Barnahus…
0
10
A report by Charles Geekie QC said chief scout Eddie Heath had groomed and attacked boys, aged 10 to 17, in the 1970s and it alleges that Chelesea officials must have "turned a blind eye to what they saw". Chelsea have now apologised “…
0
111
Child protection cases based on faith or belief increased by one-third in England in 2018, meaning almost 2,000 cases in a year, or nearly 38 such cases a week. This is taken as evidence that social workers have improved in identifying and…
0
31
Community Care reports on the practice of shifting child protection conferences to virtual meetings because of Covid-19 and the miscellaneous observations by both professionals and parents. 492 professionals (17% of them are social workers) and 24…
0
11
The Home Office and the Microsoft launched a new tool which identifies and blocks child grooming conversations online with the help of artificial intelligence. This tool is part of the government’s work in the UK, to fight against child sexual…
0
15
Child protection experts recommend reviewing elective home education. It is a national issue concerning parents’ rights to remove their children from school and educate them at home. The recommendation is coming after a serious case…
0
20
Professor David Shemmings and Yvonne Shemmings published findings from their qualitative research study into the sexual abuse of children in Chichester Diocese. They interviewed children and young people, survivors of abuse, and professionals…
0
13
The #Chances4Children campaign, launched by Children and Young People Now, aims to create a platform where practitioners, teams and leaders are able to share their experiences and innovative ideas about working with children and young people.…
0
2
‘Innovative Programme’, funded by the British government is designed to help support families where children are at risk of going into care because of their parents’ problems with mental health, domestic violence or addiction. The program aims to…
0
Researchers of Wisconsin have found that a Muppet and the Sesame Workshop materials affect children - whose parents are missing due to incarceration - in positive ways. According to ChildTrends, 7% of American children experienced life with a parent…
0
7
A campaign group in the UK, Pregnant then Screwed, recently published a study claiming every fifth of parents is forced to quit their jobs due to the high childcare costs and 62% of the respondents are forced to work in part-time (1800 parents were…
0
4
Profile picture
BBC reports that parents of children with special needs say they are struggling to cope as they are not receiving their usual support or respite during lockdown. Some children have limited or no time in school and provision appears to depend on…