Abstract

This report builds on Thorley and Coates (2017) Child-Parent Violence(CPV): an exploratory exercise.
The Child-Parent Violence (CPV) exploratory exercise provided a first impressions review of survey data generated at the end of 2016, to open up more extensively discussions around Child – Parent Violence (CPV). This report builds from the first impressions overview and considers in more detail the voices of parents about how CPV impacts upon them individually and their respective family unit collectively. In this way, this report acknowledges there is a direct and lasting impact not only on the family concerned but also for communities and for society (via employment and health indicators for parents living with CPV). More importantly this report highlights that the impact on parents in five areas that are intrinsically inter-related and as each impact increases individually, the collective impact has long term implications for all involved.What is evident is that despite numerous research reports and research initiatives, for families within the UK little real change has occurred, raising questions over why this is so. Even within new paradigms regarding what childhood means, alongside new policies and consultations regarding the ‘best interests of the child’, it is difficult to defend leaving families without the knowledge, skills and understanding of what CPV is, how to manage violent behaviour displayed and where to seek support without fear of recriminations; a scenario that has repeatedly been evident over time. In addition to considering the parental position, this reports highlights concerns relating to the response from service provision when reporting CPV or requesting intervention. The following discussion considers the impact and concerns of families living with CPV within 5 inter-related areas. The areas that will be considered are that of impact upon relationships, impact upon mental and emotional wellbeing, impact upon employment and impact upon the families’ financial position and ‘other’ impact.