Abstract title: Child-to-Parent Violence: Implications for practice informed by the findings of an explorative study
Author: Dr Alexandra Papamichail
Keywords: child-to-parent violence, adverse childhood experiences, evidence-based- practice
Abstract
The aim of the poster is to present the implications for practice informed by the findings of an empirical, qualitative research project that explored child-to-parent violence. The key areas of interest concerned the familial relationships and contexts within which young people are embedded, their psychological states and how these are linked with violent behaviour. The conceptual framework underlying the study is that of relational developmental systems, and the work draws on theories of attachment, developmental trauma and family-systems. This work emerges from a practitioner-researcher perspective within the disciplinary area of developmental psychology and psychopathology.
Participant-observation and interviews were conducted with eight young people from two different intervention programmes aiming to tackle violence against parents in the UK. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five professionals. All data were analysed from a critical realist perspective using inductive, thematic analysis. This study problematises current practices in the field, and suggests a new synthesis informed by tailored interventions, attachment and trauma theory, upon which evidence-based interventions may be based.