Child-parent violence. A phenomenon on the rise.

The family has traditionally been considered a reserved and intimate space, whose privacy was sacred and untouchable and the difficulties that arise in the family environment tend to remain in the private sphere. This is why Child-Parental Violence is a problem about which, despite its high incidence, there is little knowledge and data on this phenomenon are limited.

We understand this type of violence as the set of repeated behaviors of physical aggression (hitting, pushing, throwing objects), verbal (repeated insults, threats) or non-verbal (threatening gestures, breaking valued objects) directed at parents or adults. that take their place (Pereira, 2006).

These include threats and insults, whether made through gestures or verbalizations, physical attacks of any kind, or the conscious breaking of objects valued by the victim. Furthermore, violence must be directed against parents or those parental figures who replace them: guardians, educators, etc.

According to the report published by the Amigó Foundation, the files opened in the Juvenile Prosecutor's Office for young people due to child-parent violence during 2020 stood at 4,699. Andalusia is the region where the highest number of files are opened on minors for this type of crime (980 during 2020). Then we find the Valencian Community with 830, the Madrid Community with 697, 427 in the Canary Islands and 252 in the Balearic Islands.

These figures indicate the serious social problem that Childhood Violence represents, since it is estimated that only the most serious cases are reported, between 10% and 15% of the total, so we are talking about a problem that in most cases remains hidden and it is necessary to give visibility and make the population aware of the existing problem.

Regarding the profile of minors who commit violence against their parents, it is notable that the average age of the children is 15 and a half years and that of the parents is 46 and a half years and in 63% of the cases they are men. . 74% has poor academic performance, having suffered bullying in 16,81% of cases. In 64,35%, the children present some type of addiction.

When the family situation is highly conflictive and the deterioration of the minors' behavior is a fact, even if there is physical violence, it is necessary to ask for help from a professional in a service specialized in this problem. Interventions aimed at eradicating child-parent violence must present a combination of family/parental intervention along with individual/child intervention that gives greater strength and effectiveness to the treatment.

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