What Goes on in This House Do Not Stay in This House: Family Variables Related to Adolescent-to-Parent Offenses

Abstract

Research on adolescent-to-parent violence (APV) associates specific psychosocial characteristics with adolescents who assault their parents, whether they are within or outside the juvenile justice system, or whether these characteristics are shared by other adolescents convicted of other crimes. The aim of this paper is to compare three groups of adolescents. Those who have been sentenced for APV are compared with adolescents who have committed other crimes, and with a group who have not been involved in the justice system. The sample used consists of 148 male participants between the ages of 14 and 21. A comparison is made regarding type of self-reported behavior, frequency of drug use, academic performance, exposure to violence, self-concept, and parents’ conflict resolution tactics. The results obtained indicate that adolescents with judicial measures, regardless of the crime committed, differ from those who have not been in trouble with the justice system in terms of them having suffered violence in the street, the frequency with which they use drugs and in their academic achievement. Likewise, adolescents convicted of APV differ from the other two groups in the frequency with which they are victims of violence at home, in that their mothers use the tactic of asking somebody else for help as a way of solving marital conflicts, and in having a more negative family self-concept. The results are discussed highlighting the importance of taking into account whether a sample is judicial, clinical, or community, and the specific APV behaviors which are measured.

Psychosocial Profile of Juvenile and Adult Offenders Who Acknowledge Having Committed Child-to-Parent Violence

“…Family self-concept also plays an important role in establishing the psychosocial profile of CPV offenders, appearing as a protective factor as opposed to the risk factors. This result is consistent with the study by Hernández et al [ 64 ], where self-concept was one of the variables that characterized adolescents under judicial sanctions for CPV, as stated above, in comparison to other delinquent and nondelinquent adolescents. This consistency is logical since family self-concept is the dimension of self-concept that most closely relates to intrafamily violence, not only because it refers to the same domain but because family relationships play an important role in the origin, maintenance, and desistance from offending behavior [ 96 , 97 ].…”

“…The effect size of exposure to violence in class is half that of the other two variables. In the study by [ 64 ], experiencing violence in the home was the variable with the most weight in the discriminating function that best differentiated adolescents convicted of CPV from adolescents convicted of other crimes, or from normal adolescents. Exposure to violence is a factor outside the individual, a stimulus that influences behavior, but not necessarily as a direct influence, as is suggested by the bi-directionality of violence hypothesis [ 27 , 42 ] and the theory of intergenerational transmission of violence [ 46 ].…”

“…A total index of self-reported CPV was obtained by taking the average score of these 9 behaviors. Hernández [ 80 ] and Hernández et al [ 64 ] have provided validity and reliability evidence for this instrument. In this study, the internal consistency values were: α = 0.85; CI95% [0.70–0.87]; ω = 0.84.…”

“…In addition to problems stemming from the type of measurement used, the lack of consistency in results pertaining to self-esteem may be due to its dependence on external events, especially in a developmental transition period, such as adolescence. For this reason, Hernández et al [ 64 ] considered that self-concept, measured with self-reports, was a more appropriate construct to be studied in relation to CPV than self-esteem, given its greater stability over time and the possibility of differentiating between several facets of the adolescent’s life (social, emotional, family, academic, and physical). Their results showed that there were statistically significant differences between adolescents with and without judicial sanctions, but only in relation to the family dimension of self-concept.…”

Relationship between Punitive Discipline and Child-to-Parent Violence: The Moderating Role of the Context and Implementation of Parenting Practices

“…CPV has been related to various individual, family and social factors [ 6 , 12 ]. Given the context in which this type of violence takes place, the study of family variables takes on special importance, and, among them, exposure to family violence has received the most attention in the literature on this topic (e.g., [ 7 , 11 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]). Studies from the perspective of the intergenerational transmission of violence (e.g., [ 17 , 18 , 19 ]) propose that as a result of observational learning and imitation of adult models [ 20 ], children from violent homes are more likely to become violent since they internalize that aggression as an adequate way to cope with interpersonal conflicts.…”