One in ten domestic abuse crimes in Lancashire are committed by people towards their own parents
It is the first time in the UK that research has focused specifically on child to parent domestic abuse cases where the perpetrator is aged 16 or older
Last updated 15th Feb 2022
One in ten domestic abuse crimes in Lancashire are committed by people towards their own parents, research from University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) finds.
26 months of domestic abuse cases were investigated from November 2018 to February 2021 and it was found that of the 66,973 cases reported, 7,171 were committed by people over the age of 16 towards a parental figure.
Researchers from UCLan have worked alongside Lancashire Constabulary and Lancashire Violence Reduction Network in a project that was funded by the Home Office.
First of its kind research within the UK
It is the first time in the UK that research has focused specifically on child to parent domestic abuse cases where the perpetrator is aged 16 or older, which is the age where abuse of a parent by their child is classed as domestic abuse.
Most previous research has explored adolescent child to parent domestic abuse, but this research suggests that it can, and does, happen at any age and involves a complex range of perpetrator demographics.
Professor Nicola Graham-Kevan, from the UCLan Criminal Justice Research Partnership, says many victims have, until now, been forgotten.
"Domestic violence between partners is very well understood and researched, however research on child to parents, where the child is 16 or over, is very much under researched and very little is known about it", said Professor Graham-Kevan.
"There was quite a lot of singular cases, police calling would probably be sufficient for everyone to take a step back. Then we have these more severe, more likely to escalate to harm, where you have got a coercive perpetrator. Most of these have been identified because the parent or carer is afraid.
"We know that mental health difficulties, such as people on the autistic spectrum, are going to be represented on these samples. The more we can understand about the drivers of the behaviour, the better we can help policy makers, police, parents and the children themselves."
Child refers to the position of over 16's within the family unit
Currently there is limited information on parental abuse by older children, which has lead police and other organisations into using assessments such as the DASH (Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment) tool, which may not be appropriate for some, or any cases, where the perpetrator is the victim’s child.
This may lead to higher risk cases not being picked up or lower risk cases being dealt with via the criminal justice system where other approaches may be better for the victim.
This research suggests that additional guidelines and assessment tools may be needed to be developed for child to parent domestic abuse cases.
Nathan Birdsall is one of the researchers and hopes by highlighting the issue more people will seek help.
"So in terms of the average age of perpetrators, it was within the 20's, around 26, but the age range ranged from 16 to the 70's so there is a wide range of both suspects and victim age groups," said Nathan.
"When we use the word child we attach the age connotation to it, when in actual fact it means the position within the family unit.
"A child could be a 30 year old abusing a potential 50, 60 year old parent or it could be a child against a grandparent. There is a whole lot of different compositions within a family, so this work looks at those that fit the domestic abuse definition. As soon you hit 16-years-old you are capable of perpetrating domestic abuse.
"It might be the case that we go through a period where we go through an increase in volume because there's more awareness and people are more likely to report. That can be a healthy thing because we are recognising it as a form of domestic abuse."