Child-to-Parent Violence: An Exploratory Study of the Roles of Family Violence and Parental Discipline Through the Stories Told by Spanish Children and Their Parents

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify the role of exposure to family violence and parental discipline in the development of child-to-parent violence (CPV). A qualitative in-depth interview design was used. Fifteen adolescents (10 boys) who have perpetrated CPV (Mage = 16 years; SDage = 1.33 years) and their parents or foster parents took part in the study. Individually, they answered questions about exposure to violence and parenting practices. Results suggest that adolescents were frequently direct victims and also witnesses of violence. Furthermore, emotional neglect in the parent–child relationship was frequent and families were characterized by rules that are not consistently implemented. Different forms of violence seem to coexist in these families, and CPV should also be a target in the interventions.