A study by Swansea University has highlighted the urgent need for support for families facing child-to-parent abuse (CPA).
Despite an increasing focus on CPA research in recent years, there remains a lack of understanding of the interventions available for affected families, which includes not only children who use violence but also their parents, siblings, and extended family members.
In a study published in Safer Communities, researchers evaluated the design and delivery of the Parallel Lives Programme (PLP), a CPA prevention programme developed by the Media Academy Cymru (MAC).
Led by Dr Gemma Morgan with Dr Joseph Janes, the study uniquely centres on the experiences and voices of parents and children who have completed the Programme, as well as the staff who deliver it—perspectives that have historically been overlooked due to the hidden nature of CPA.
Nick Corrigan, CEO of Media Academy Cymru, said: “CPA is a hidden harm that isn't spoken about out of misplaced shame and fear that it is an indicator of parents being bad at parenting. Because of this hidden nature, often, parents suffer for a considerable amount of time and tolerate significant levels of violence before they seek help.
“MAC started developing the Parallel Lives Programme to shine a light on the issue and bring it from being an unspoken harm to a discussion where parents can learn that they are not alone, that CPA is not about them being bad parents and where children can build empathy and better pro-social skills. Talking about CPA in safe, honest and supportive environments is the first step to reduce and to hopefully stop the pain and stigma associated with CPA.”
The researchers, through a series of interviews, online surveys, observations and file reviews, found that PLP holds great potential to help families improve their relationships and develop strategies to address the root causes of violence in a safe and therapeutic environment.
Their findings call for an urgent need for more specialised support, emphasising that interventions should prioritise a ‘children first’ approach and be delivered in a relationship-focused and strength-based environment.
They also state that further research is needed to highlight best practices for interventions aimed at supporting families experiencing CPA.
Dr Gemma Morgan said: “The findings highlight the importance for families experiencing CPA to have therapeutic spaces where they can repair their relationships and focus on their strengths in a safe and non-judgmental environment.”
While relationship-focused interventions show promise, the team acknowledges that they come with their own set of challenges.
CPA interventions require trained professionals skilled in navigating family dynamics and capable of tailoring their approaches to meet the specific needs of each family, with a one-size-fits-all method unlikely to be effective.
The team hopes these insights will provide valuable guidance for practitioners and policymakers in developing more positive responses to CPA, helping maintain and improve the relationships between children and their families in Wales and beyond.
Find out more about this research in The Conversation.