Adolescent Aggression towards Parents A Children’s Rights Perspective

1. Adolescent Aggression towards Parents A Children’s Rights Perspective 13th February 2019 www.tfal.org.mt

2. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) • Provision • Protection • Participation

3. Main Stakeholders • Children • Parents • The State • Community

4. Prevalence – A Hidden and Under-reported problem • Adolescent aggression towards parents has been a topic traditionally neglected in social research. • Few studies have been carried out in North America and Europe showing figures between 4-18% of parents abused by their children. • Perpetrators are typically between 14 and 17 years old. • Parents finds this behavior embarrassing and fear being blamed by the community, reflecting their inadequacy.

5. Types of Abuse Our Own Law – Gender Based Violence and Domestic Violence Act • Physical abuse implies hitting, punching, throwing things and any other kind of physical violence. • Psychological abuse refers to intimidating and humiliating parents by means on many occasions of verbal violence. • Emotional abuse involves lies, blackmails and other malicious mind games such as manipulative threats. • Financial abuse refers to stealing money from parents, selling their possessions or incurring debts that parents must cover.

6. Who are these Adolescents? • Most studies point out that the profile of the adolescents who behave aggressively show a cold personality. • Some main features : • display difficulty in expressing their emotions especially compassion and love; • show a remarkable lack of social skills such as empathy; • tend to challenge, lie and behave cruelly against others. • Boys are more likely to use physical violence while girls are more likely to be emotionally abusive towards their parents.

7. VictimPerpetrator • Tendency to react in an impulsive and abrupt way to small provocations. • Drug abuse has been identified as a relevant factor. • They are victims and victimisers. • Mainly mothers but also grandmothers and other female caregivers. • Main Reasons: - women are more likely to be sole parents; • - mothers have far more often been victims of spouse abuse than fathers.

8. Parenting • Parents are not perceived as authority figures by children in families with inadequate parental guidance and supervision, or over protective parents. • Parental discipline based on either excessive control or excessive permissiveness.

9. Parenting Styles • The authoritarian style. • The indulgent style. • The authoritative style • A middle point - parents try to control child’s behavior through reasoning over imposition.

10. Risk Factors • Domestic violence - It defies children and adolescents to develop particular behavioral, emotional and cognitive characteristics with long-term adjustment problems. • Beliefs about the acceptability of violence as a way to resolve conflicts. • Beliefs about males being entitled to control their partners and household. • Disruptive and anti-social behavior in the classroom is an important predictor of later aggression. • Commitment and attitude to school, as well as lack of educational goals. • Communities in which violence and anti-social acts are common may exert a crucial impact on how children understand and internalize social norms of behavior. • A similar influence exerts mass media, the internet and videogames.

11. Video Games • Violent videogames foster the role playing of violence – the player assumes the role of virtual aggressor. • Games have become very realistic and players are sometimes even forced to make moral choices whilst playing the game. • Those playing the videogame are not exposed to the victim’s physical pain, or to their own physical pain as a consequence of victims’ self defense.

12. Way Forward • Respecting Children’s Rights. • Creating awareness for the prevention of abuse. • Early identification and intervention. • Support for the family unit. • Therapeutic facilities. • Further research.

13. Thank You Email: pauline.miceli@gov.mt Website: www.tfal.org.mt Tel: 21485180