STUDENT NUMBER…………
CRW2603 ASSIGNMENT 1 YEAR 2022
UNIQUE CODE…………………
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DOCUMENT
, QUESTION 1
A person can be subjected to various forms of interpersonal violence within the family.
Discuss parent abuse and murder in South Africa as a type of intrafamilial violence
committed by children and youth. (15)
Parent abuse is defined as any act by a child under the age of 18 years that is intended
to cause physical, psychological or financial damage in order to gain power and control
over parents or step-parents (Coogan 2011: 3481; Cottrell 2001: 3; Cottrell & Monk,
2004: 1080). These acts include assault with or without a weapon, emotional
manipulation, verbal abuse and theft. The acts perpetrated by the child or youth causes
the parent to feel threatened, intimidated and controlled (Kennair & Mellor, 2007: 204).
Coogan (2011: 349) proposes the use of the term "child-to-parent violence" as this
clearly identifies the parent as the victim of the abusive behaviour, and the child as the
one who uses violence to disempower the parent.
Parent abuse and murder are topics that have been neglected by researchers. This may
be because family violence is considered a private, domestic and even a "normal"
phenomenon by the victims and perpetrators, and interference by outsiders is not
tolerated. Parent abuse is often overlooked because it is not seen to be an extensive or
problematic aspect of family interaction and few interventions are available. Parents
are also not likely to report such abuse because they may blame themselves for the
victimisation, they may feel that others will blame them for their children's behaviour or
they fear retaliation by their children if it becomes known that they have reported the
abuse (Coogan, 2011: 349; Cottrell & Monk, 2004: 1089).
Parent abuse involves physical attack, verbal and non-verbal threats, and emotional
battering of one or both parents by a child. More specifically, parent abuse involves the
throwing or use of objects as a weapon, pushing, grabbing, shoving, slapping, kicking,
biting and threatening to use, or using, a knife or gun in an impulsive or situational
episode against a parent. There are also subtler forms of abuse, such as personal and
property theft, and leaving a disabled parent alone without food, water and help when
the youth is away at school. Cursing and shouting at the parent to the extent that the
parent experiences it as dehumanising is another form of parent abuse (Kennair &
Mellor,
Recently, researchers have tended to focus on different groups of parent abusers. Some
children commit parental abuse by causing physical, psychological or financial harm to
their parents. Some abuse their parents on all these levels while others only abuse on
one level (e.g. physically). In addition, one should distinguish between the normal
parent— child conflicts many adolescents have with their parents and full-out abuse by
adolescents who try to control and coerce their parents (Bartol & Bartol 2017: 303).
Youth who physically abuse their parents often display the following characteristics
(Cottrell & Monk 2004: 1073-1074, 1082-1083, 1087; Hong, Kral, Espelage & Allen-
Meares 2012: 434; Kennair & Mellor 2007: 205-207):
They are likely to have friends who also display violence towards their parents.
They approve of misbehaviour, including violence.
They show weak attachments to their parents. They do not have close
relationships or rewarding interactions with their parents, and are less likely to
talk to them about their personal problems.