‘I Don't Know what is Autism, what is Normal Teenage Behaviour, and What is Naughtiness’: Conceptualising Child and Adolescent to Parent Violence in the Context of Neurodevelopmental Difference
Holt (2023)
Content Warning: Violence
This article discusses Child to Parent Violence (CPV) and explores parents and carers experiences of CPV with regards to Neurodivergent children. 15 mothers participated and data was collected through semi structured interviews. The mothers were sometimes experiencing physical and psychological violence from their child on a daily basis. The findings from the study suggested that parents were struggingly to make sense of the violence. There were feelings of conflict between whether the violence was the child’s Neurodivergence, normal teenage behaviour or their child’s poor mental health. The interviews also showed that parents recognised the inappropriateness of common CPV advice. The paper concludes with a discussion of complex sensemaking practices in relation to further research and practice.