Abuse of Parent: Victims of Domestic Violence

The bond between a parent and a child can be a wonderful joining of minds. However, when these relationships between a parents and child go bad, things can turn dangerous very quickly. A young teenager or adult child is very capable of inflicting emotional, verbal, or physical abuse on their own parents. The problem of parent abuse has been rising sharply in the last few years.

When the relationship between a parent and child go bad, the results can be devastating for both child, parent, and the rest of the family. Domestic abuse does not imply that parents are the aggressors and children are the victims. This street run both ways and children can be the aggressors victimizing the parent. For some reason, mental health professionals have given very little notice to this rising epidemic of domestic violence.

The Latest Numbers on Parent Abuse

There have always been children who abuse parents, but until the 1950's, no one really gave it any notice. Back then, the issue of parent abuse was just being studied and identified. The latest numbers indicate that around 11 percent of children under the age of 10 years are physically abusing their parents. 57 percent of that abuse is physical abuse, 22 percent of incidents are verbal abuse, and 17 percent involve some sort of knife or gun.

Mothers seem to get the worst of the domestic violence and abuse from their kids. 82 percent of parent abuse victims are women. One of the reasons that number is so high is the fact that the highest rates of parent abuse occur in families with a single mother. The abuse typically begins as verbal abuse. Left unchecked, this verbal abuse soon turns ugly and eventually escalates to more severe types of abuse.

A Lax Approach to Discipline

One of the most interesting components to these most recent domestic abuse studies is the apparent lack of any response by parents. Most victims of parent abuse have been encouraged or advised to take a laid back, permissive role in bringing up their own children. This permissive approach to parenting is a major factor in the ever increasing occurrence of parent abuse.

Look for This Type of Abusive Behavior

Children who abuse parents typically engage in intimidation, name calling, mind games that make a parent question their own sanity, unrealistic demands, causing distress by staying out all night, threats to physically hurt or harm the parent or other family members, running away, and threatening suicide to get their own way.

Parents in these or similar circumstances need to get outside help as soon as possible. There is no shame in asking someone for help. A parent abuse support group could help you get control of your particular situation. There are not that many around but they can be found by doing a search for "parent abuse" on your computer. If you don't have access to a computer, ask your pastor or local mental health agency for assistance. Remember, you are not alone. There are other parents who have been through similar circumstances and know what to do to help you.

Sources:

Parent Abuse on the Rise: A Historical Review

Parent Abused by Teen