The following list provides a brief overview of relevant publications on parent abuse, together with links to some useful websites. Given the nature of parent abuse the publications come from a varied disciplinary background ranging from the therapeutic to social policy and criminological. Some look at the nature and incidence of parent abuse, some examine the experience and causes of it, while others suggest therapeutic interventions. See further the discussion by Holt, this volume.
Books, book chapters and research reports
UK literature
Finkelhor, D. (1983) ‘Common features of family abuse’, in D. Finkelhor, R. J. Gelles, G. T. Hotaling and M. A. Straus (eds.), The Dark Side of Families: Current Family Violence Research, London: Sage.
Parentline Plus (2008) ‘“You can't say go and sit on the naughty step because they turn round and say make me”: aggressive behaviour in children: parents’ experiences and needs’, Parentline Plus briefing, http://familylives.org.uk/content/aggressive-behaviour-children-parents%E2%80%99-experiences-and-needs [accessed 28.07.2011].
Parentline Plus (2010) When Family Life Hurts: Family Experience of Aggression in Children, London: Parentline Plus.
Robinson, L. (2011) ‘Interviews and restorative responses to address teen violence against parents’, Report for the Winston Churchill memorial trust, http://www.wcmt.org.uk/reports/828_1.pdf [accessed 28.07.2011].
Overseas literature
Bobic, N. (2004) Adolescent Violence Towards Parents, Australian Domestic and Family Violence, Clearinghouse, http://www.austdvclearinghouse.unsw.edu.au/PDF%20files/adolescent_violence.pdf [accessed 28.07.2011].
Bobic, N. (2004) Adolescent Violence towards Parents: Myths and Realities, Marrickville, NSW: Rosemount Youth and Family Services.
Brezina, T. (2000) ‘Corporal punishment as a cause of teenage violence towards parents: data from a national sample of male adolescents’, in G. Litton Fox and M. L. Benson (eds.), Families, Crime and Criminal Justice, New York: Elsevier Science.
Cochran, D., Brown, M. E., Adams, S. and Doherty, D. (1994) Young Adolescent Batterers: A Profile of Restraining Order Defendants in Masachusetts, Boston, MA: Trial Court, Office of the Commissioner of Probation, http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED380731&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED380731 [accessed 28.07.2011].
Cottrell, B. (2003) Parent Abuse: The Abuse of Parents by Their Teenage Children, Government of Canada: National Clearinghouse on Family Violence, http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ncfv-cnivf/pdfs/fv-ParentAbuse_e.pdf [accessed 28.07.2011].
Daly, K. and Nancarrow, H. (2009) ‘Restorative justice and youth violence towards parents’, in J. Ptacek (ed.), Restorative Justice and Violence against Women, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Howard, J. and Rottem, N. (2008) It All Starts at Home: Male Adolescent Violence to Mothers, Inner Couth Community Health Service Inc and Child Abuse Research Australia, Monash University, http://www.youth.nsw.gov.au/__data/page/1215/itallstartsathome.pdf [accessed 28.07.2011].
Monk, P. (1997) ‘Adolescent-to-parent violence: a qualitative analysis of emerging themes’, Master's thesis, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, https://circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/6529 [accessed 28.07.2011].
Pagelow, M. D. (1989) ‘The incidence and prevalence of criminal abuse of other family members’, in L. Ohlin and M. Tonry, Family Violence, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Price, J. (1996) Power and Compassion: Working with Difficult Adolescents and Abused Parents, New York: Guildford Press.
Regalado, F. L. (2004) The Problem of Child on Parent Domestic Violence: A Multi-Modal, Multi-Family Intervention Model, Florida: Carlos Albizu University.
Rybski, N. C. (1999) An Evaluation of a Family Group Therapy Program for Domestically Violent Adolescents, Tucson: University of Arizona.
Wilson, J. (1996) ‘Physical abuse of parents by adolescent children’, in D. M. Busby (ed.), The Impact of Violence on the Family: Treatment Approaches for Therapists and other Professionals, Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon.
Journal sources
UK literature
Holt, A. (2011), ‘“The terrorist in my home”: teenagers violence towards parents – constructions of parent experiences in public online message boards’, Child and Family Social Work, published online before print 18 March 2011, doi: 10.1111/j.1365–2206.2011.00760.x.
Holt, A. (2011), ‘Responding to the problem of “parent abuse”’, The Psychologist, 24, 3, 186−8.
Holt, A. (2010), ‘Disciplining “problem parents” in the youth court: between regulation and resistance’, Social Policy and Society, 9, 1, 89−99.
Holt, A. (2009), ‘Parent abuse: some reflections on the adequacy of a youth justice response’, Internet Journal of Criminology, 1–11.
Hunter, C., Nixon, J. and Parr, S. (2010), ‘Mother abuse: a matter of youth justice, child welfare or domestic violence?’, Journal of Law and Society, 37, 2, 264–84.
Tew, J. and Nixon, J. (2010), ‘Parent abuse: opening up discussion of a complex instance of family power relations’, Social Policy and Society, 9, 4, 579–89.
Overseas literature
Agnew, R. and Huguley, S. (1989) ‘Adolescent violence towards parents’, Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51, 699–711.
Arrigo, M. (1982) ‘Battered parents in California: ignored victims of domestic violence’, San Diego Law Review, 19, 4, 781–800.
Buel, S. (2002) ‘Why juvenile courts should address family violence: promising practices to improve intervention outcomes’, Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 53, 2, 1–16.
Boxer, P., Gullan, R. L. and Mahoney, A. (2009) ‘Adolescents’ physical aggression towards parents in a clinically referred sample’, Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 38, 106–16.
Brezina, T. (1999) ‘Teenage violence toward parents as an adaptation to family strain’, Youth and Society, 30, 4, 416–44.
Cottrell, B. and Monk, P. (2004) ‘Adolescent to parent abuse’, Journal of Family Issues, 25, 1072–95.
Crichton-Hill, Y., Evans, N. and Meadows, L. (2006) ‘Research focus: adolescent violence towards parents’, Te Awatea Review, 4, 2, 21–2.
Darracott, R. (2007) ‘Juvenile and family court journal’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 28, 1, 1–10.
Downey, L. (1997) Adolescent violence: a systematic and feminist perspective’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 18, 2, 70–9.
Edenborough, M., Jackson, D., Mannix, J. and Wilkes, L. (2008) ‘Living in the red zone: the experience of child-to-mother violence’, Child and Family Social Work, 13, 464–73.
Edenborough, M., Wilkes, L. M., Jackson, D. and Mannix, J. (2011) ‘Development and validation of the child-to-mother violence scale’, Nurse Researcher, 18, 2, 63–76.
Elliott, G. C., Cunningham, S. M., Colangelo, M. and Gelles, R. J. (2011) ‘Perceived mattering to the family and physical violence within the family by adolescents’, Journal of Family Issues, published online before print 8 March 2011, doi: 10.1177/0192513×11398932.
Evans, D. and Warren-Sohlberg, L. (1998) ‘A pattern analysis of adolescent abusive behaviour towards parents’, Journal of Adolescent Research, 3, 210–16.
Gallagher, E. (2004) ‘Parents victimised by their children’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 25, 1, 1–12.
Gallagher, E. (2004a) ‘Parents victimized by their children’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 25, 1–12.
Gallagher, E. (2004b) ‘Youths who victimize their parents’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 25, 94–105.
Gebo, E. (2007) ‘A family affair: the juvenile court and family violence cases’, Journal of Family Violence, 22, 501–9.
Ghanizadeh, A. and Jafari, P. (2010) ‘Risk factors of abuse of parents by their ADHD children’, European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 19, 1, 75–81.
Harbin, H. T. and Madden, D. J. (1979) ‘Battered parents: a new syndrome’, American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 1288–91.
Heyman, R. E. and Smith Slep, A. M. (2002) ‘Do child abuse and interparental violence lead to adulthood family violence?’, Journal of Marriage and Family, 64, 4, 864–70.
Ibabe, I. and Jaureguizar, J. (2010) ‘Child-to-parent violence: profile of abusive adolescents and their families’, Journal of Criminal Justice, 38, 4, 616–24.
Ibabe, I. and Jaureguizar, J. (2011) ‘To what extent is child-to-parent violence bi-directional?’, Anales de psicologia, 27, 2, 265–77.
Jackson, D. (2003) ‘Broadening constructions of family violence: mothers perspectives of aggression from the children’, Child and Family Social Work, 8, 321–9.
Jackson, D. and Mannix, J. (2004) ‘Giving voice to the burden of blame: a feminist study of mothers’ experiences of mother blaming’, International Journal of Nursing Practice, 10, 150–8.
Kennair, N. and Mellor, D. (2007) ‘Parent abuse: a review’, Child Psychiatry Human Development, 38, 203–19.
Kennedy, T. D., Edmonds, W. A., Dann, K. T. J. and Burnett, K. F. (2010) ‘The clinical and adaptive features of young offenders with histories of child–parent abuse’, Journal of Family Violence, 25, 5, 509–20.
Kethineni, S. (2004) ‘Youth-on-parent violence in a Central Illinois County’, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 2, 4, 374–94.
Kumara, F. (1981) ‘Filial violence: a peculiar parent–child relationship in the Japanese family today’, Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 12, 337–49.
Laurent, A. and Derry, A. (1999) ‘Violence of French adolescents toward their parents: characteristics and contexts’, Journal of Adolescent Health, 25, 1, 21–6.
Marcus, N. E., Lindahl, K. M. and Malik, N. M. (2001) ‘Interparent conflict, children's social cognitions, and child aggression: a test of a mediational model’, Journal of Family Psychology, 15, 2, 315–33.
Micucci, J. A. (1995) ‘Adolescents who assault their parents: a family systems approach to treatment’, Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, and Training, 31, 154–61.
Nock, M. K. and Kazdin, A. E. (2002) ‘Parent-directed physical aggression by clinic-referred youths’, Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 31, 193–205.
Pagani, L. S., Tremblay, R. E., Nagin, D., Zoccolillo, M., Vitaro, M. and McDuff, P. (2004) ‘Risk factor models for adolescent verbal and physical aggression toward mothers’, International Journal of Behavioral Development, 28, 6, 528–37.
Paterson, R., Luntz, H., Perlesz, A. and Cotton, S. (2002) ‘Adolescent violence towards parents: maintaining family connections when the going gets tough’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 23, 90–100.
Paulson, M. J., Coombs, R. H. and Landsverk, J. (1990) ‘Youths who physically assault their parents’, Journal of Family Violence, 5, 121–33.
Peek, C. W., Fischer, J. L. and Kidwell, J. S. (1985) ‘Teenage violence toward parents: a neglected dimension of family violence’, Journal of Marriage and the Family, 47, 4, 1051–8.
Potter-Efron, R. T. and Potter-Efron, P. F. (1985) ‘Family violence as a treatment issue with chemically dependent adolescents’, Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 2, 1–15.
Pretorius, R. (1992) ‘Parents as victim of abuse by rebellious children and the role of Tourette's syndrome as a causal factor’, Maatskaplike Werk (Social Work), 28, 2, 7–13.
Robinson, P. W., Davidson, L. J. and Drebot, M. E. (2004) ‘Parent abuse on the rise: a historical review’, American Association of Behavioral Social Science, 58–67, on line journal, http://aabss.org/journal2004/AABSS_58–67.pdf.
Rosenthal, P. A. and Doherty, M. B. (1985) ‘Psychodynamics of delinquent girls rage and violence directed toward mother’, Adolescent Psychiatry, 12, 281–9.
Routt, G. and Anderson, L. (2011) ‘Adolescent violence towards parents’, Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 20, 1, 1–19.
Sheehan, M. (1997) ‘Adolescent violence – strategies, outcomes and dilemmas in working with young people and their families’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 18, 2, 80–91.
Smart, E. (1984), ‘Parents in the closet (parent abuse by teenagers)’, Victimology, 9, 3/4, 304–30.
Stewart, M., Burns, A. and Leonard, R. (2007) ‘Dark side of the mothering role: abuse of mothers by adolescent and adult children’, Sex Roles, 56, 3/4, 183–91.
Stewart, M., Jackson, D., Mannix, J., Wilkes, L. and Lines, K. (2004) ‘Child to mother violence: what does the literature tell us’, Advances in Contemporary Nursing, 18, 1/2, 199–210.
Ulman, A. and Straus, M. A. (2003) ‘Violence by children against mothers in relation to violence between parents and corporal punishment by parents’, Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 34, 1, 41–60.
Uma, S. (1999) ‘Family violence: a focus on India’, Aggression and Violent Behaviour, 4, 2, 213–31.
Walsh, J. A. and Krienert, J. L. (2009) ‘A decade of child initiated family violence’, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24, 9, 1450–77.
Walsh, J. A. and Krienert, J. L. (2007) ‘Child–parent violence: an empirical analysis of offender, victim, and event characteristics in a national sample of reported incidents’, Journal of Family Violence, 22, 7, 563–74.
Wells, M. G. (1987) ‘Adolescent violence against parents: an assessment’, Family Therapy, 14, 125–33.
Online sources
Alternative Restoratives http://www.alternativerestoratives.co.uk/about.htm – this website aims to raise awareness around teen violence against parents. It also discusses the development of alternative restorative approaches to parent abuse.
Family Lives http://familylives.org.uk/ – this website offers advice and support to parents on a wide range of issues.
Holes in the Wall http://holesinthewall.co.uk/ – this is a website and blog to disseminate information, link interested people and add to the understanding of the issue of parent abuse.
Eddie Gallagher http://www.eddiegallagher.id.au/ – this is the personal website of Eddie Gallagher, a psychologist who has written extensively on parent abuse, with links to resources and materials.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the following students at York Law School, University of York, who helped in compiling this: Laura Carter, Alex Chadwick, Andre Pringle and India Haresign.
