Responding to child to parent violence

The research project took place between 2013 and 2015.

RCPV aimed to help practitioners working on CPV and parents and children experiencing CPV. The project adopted an action research methodology motivated by the quest to understand practice and policy in relation to CPV in each partner country (Spain, Bulgaria, England, Ireland and Sweden) and to learn how to improve both by reflecting on the changes made through project actions. The aims were to:

• research understanding and raise awareness
• improve policy and practice
• develop an evaluation framework
• implement intervention programmes and
• develop tools for practitioners and families in Bulgaria, England, Ireland, Spain and Sweden with a focus on gender and Violence against Women and Girls.

The project was underpinned by a focus on gender dynamics and preventing and responding to violence against women and children.

RCPV has started to transform perceptions of CPV through developing and disseminating a project film for policy makers and wide use of the media (aim i).

Dissemination of project findings at European and national levels with MEPs and senior policy makers has made them aware of the RCPV findings and they are able to use these in Violence against Women & Child Protection projects under way at the European Commission. This work has also enabled collaboration to facilitate data sharing with the Council of Europe/OIJJ (International Observatory for Juvenile Justice) aiming to provide child-friendly justice. Filming and interviewing of children has started to address the lack of attention to the voices of young people on the issue of CPV in the international and European literatures (aim i).

RCPV has contributed to discussions on national responses to CPV as follows:

1. In Bulgaria, 50 regional managers and practitioners discussed CPV and future national and local actions
2. The Tusla the Child and Family Agency for the Republic of Ireland has supported the project and is considering incorporating CPV into their policy on domestic violence.
3. In England, the project has contributed to discussion of a national information leaflet on CPV which was published by the Home Office in March 2015 to fulfil the Violence Against Women and Girls policy in England and Wales.
4. In Sweden, partners are in discussion with the National Board of Health and Welfare on CPV.
5. In Spain, a new research association called SEVIFIP Sociedad Española para el Estudio de la Violencia Filio-Parental was established in 2014 and partners from Spain and England are contributing to their first national conference (aims i  and ii).

Developing and running gender workshops with professionals in Ireland and England started to explore the issues of gender dynamics where CPV is concerned (aims i and ii).
The project has demonstrated the potential savings to the public purse of implementing one specialised CPV intervention through carrying out a cost-benefit analysis of the B4C intervention model over a six month period as compared with no intervention (aim ii).

The project has improved policy and practice on CPV in the following ways by showing: 

1. how CPV is currently being responded to by mapping individual country contexts, analysing these on a cross-country basis and identifying gaps in knowledge, legal and policy frameworks and service provision
2. how CPV is experienced by parents and children and the stigma and shame which prevent families from seeking help and support
3. how services are currently failing to respond effectively to parents and children due to a lack of awareness, policy and guidelines on CPV
4. the links between school problems including bullying or being bullied at school and CPV in the home
5. the links with previous experience of domestic violence in some cases
6. the significant improvement in the knowledge of CPV for over 300 frontline workers in key sectors
7. practitioner knowledge, skills and confidence in intervening with CPV through the providing training on two specialised models: B4C and NVR (aim ii).

RCPV has provided specialised frameworks and tools for senior staff and professionals and enabled sharing of best practice by having:

1. developed and piloted the first evidence based evaluation framework and tools for CPV which will enable managers to evaluate their work on CPV
2. developed self-efficacy questionnaires to assess the knowledge and abilities of their staff on CPV
3. developed and made available practice handbooks and films on NVR and B4C interventions that staff can easily use in work with families where CPV takes place (aims iii and v).

RCPV has supported the development and implementation of new service delivery on CPV in Ireland with NVR and B4C and in Sweden a new B4C parents’ programme. In England as a result of the success of this project, Brighton & Hove City Council has mainstreamed B4C from October 2015-2018 (aim iv).

Recommendations for the EU
The EU should take careful consideration of how the issues of CPV are highlighted within justice legislation and policy making. How to ensure effective practice delivery that holds children to account for abusive and violent behaviour is key; however making policy on this issue requires a task force bringing together justice and social welfare policy makers to ensure a fit for purpose European approach to tackling CPV. Our findings seemed well received during our policy round table in Brussels and the focus now is to engage a greater number of policy makers from Youth Justice in particular, Health and Children and Families Services across Europe on this issue.

As highlighted in the recent All Wales Youth Offending Strategy – Children and Young People First, our recommendation would be for the EU to ensure that wherever possible children and young people are prevented from entering the youth justice system via an early intervention approach that is clear that violence and abuse is not to be tolerated. In cases where children are at risk of entering or in the youth justice system we recommend they be treated as children first and offenders second and the services work together to redress the issue of CPV: “Offending behaviour is challenged and responded to proportionately with an opportunity for young people to make amends” and reflect on and change behaviour – www.cymru.gov.uk, July 2014.

This project has highlighted the important interplay between policing, child protection, adult safeguarding education, health, domestic violence and child maltreatment prevention and therefore needs to be recognised in each of these policy areas. Any policy change will also require effective skills and expertise to be developed and therefore consideration of effective academic, policy and workforce training is critical for all statutory, private and non-government organisations. We recommend that policymakers work with those specialised evidence-based interventions which are closely linked to knowledgeable practitioners in mainstream services, to inform their policymaking decisions.