Page 54 - SEN115 - November/December 2021

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children displaying these behaviours identify as female – and many fathers, grandfathers, and male carers and guardians are on the receiving end.
There’s also a misconception, not helped by the formerly- widely-used phrase ‘Adolescent to Parent Violence or Abuse’, that this behaviour is only seen within teenage children. In actual fact, it’s more common for parents to begin experiencing CPA (where the behaviour has gone beyond the sorts of boundary pushing we’d expect during childhood and become abusive or violent behaviour) between the ages of five to seven than it is during the teen years; and more than 50% of the families supported by social enterprise PEGS (one of the only UK organisations which focuses on CPA parental support) have children aged 12 or under. It’s also sadly fairly common for abuse to stretch past the age of 18, which may be of note for schools who have students with older siblings who may be displaying these behaviours.
Of course, where a child has Special Educational Needs, this can complicate matters in terms of determining whether the behaviour they are displaying is a symptom, or whether it constitutes CPA. SEN and CPA don’t necessarily go hand in hand either – one often happens without the other, but families can be experiencing both at the same time.
And this is why it’s important for professionals coming into contact with families to have a working knowledge of behaviours associated with CPA, and what can be done to support not only the child but the rest of the family too.
Home v school behaviours
Recognising that the behaviours a child displays can be vastly different at home compared to within school is a huge step forward in supporting families impacted by CPA.
“In the most extreme of circumstances, children have been temporarily or permanently moved away”
Some of our parents report extra difficulties involved with accessing support from social care teams because the child’s educational setting states there are no behavioural problems.
Naturally, honest and accurate reporting to professional agencies is to be encouraged – but so too is listening to the parents, carers and guardians about what they’re seeing outside of school hours.
Just as we may see an adult being abusive towards their spouse behind closed doors and then never displaying these violent tendencies at work or in social settings, it’s entirely plausible for a child to become violent only towards those within their family.
Responding
One of the complications with CPA is that there’s no set way to respond – what works for one family may not work for another. Children’s behaviours, emotions and responses aren’t cookie cutter replicas of each other – and this is even more true when we’re talking about those who have additional educational needs where there are extra considerations when it comes to their physical health, wellbeing or development. In the most extreme of circumstances, children have been temporarily or
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Child/parent abuse