Lancashire research reveals extent of police call-outs for CPA

Harriet Ernstsons-Evans • Feb 20, 2022

Research released by the University of Central Lancashire this week has revealed a tenth of domestic abuse cases the police were called out to were incidents involving Child to Parent Abuse.

The university worked alongside Lancashire Police and Lancashire Violence Reduction Network on the project, funded by the Home Office.


The full report can be read here – but we’ve also gone through and summarised some of the main findings below.


*Do be aware the report features details of serious CPA incidents and parricides, so please only read its contents if you feel emotionally comfortable to do so.*


  • There were 66,973 domestic abuse incidents in Lancashire in the date range studied as part of the project (27th November 2018 to 28th February 2021) – of which 7,171 were incidents where a parental figure was the victim. (It’s important to note due to the legal definition of domestic abuse being behaviours displayed by a person aged 16 or over, the research only covers CPA incidents where the child is 16 or over).


  • In 69% of cases, the person being reported was the son of the victim – in 19% of cases it was the daughter, and the rest of the cases were grandchildren or other relatives.


  • 44% of incidents involved violence towards a person, 34% were domestic abuse incidents which the police were called to, but which were classified as non-criminal offences, 12% involved arson or criminal damage and 0.7% were sexual offences.


  • There was an increase of 37% during Christmas and 41% over New Year.


  • The oldest person reported for CPA was 74, and the average age was just under 27 (again, worth noting all incidents recorded were where the person being abusive or violent was 16 or over).


  • 27% had previously been investigated for domestic abuse – with a small proportion having been investigated up to 21 times during the timeframe of the study.


  • And 24% had been classified as the victim in a previous domestic abuse investigation, some up to 18 times.


  • The average age of the victim was 54, and the oldest victim was 98.


  • In the majority of cases, the victim did not support or withdrew their support for further police action – in a small number of cases, there was difficulty getting enough evidence to take the case forward.


  • There were charges or summons issues in around 8% of the cases which had been classified as a crime.


PEGS welcomes this research, and the awareness being raised of CPA as a result – it’s important to recognise the numbers of parents needing to call police because of abuse they are experiencing from their children, and what can be done collectively to reduce the impact of CPA. Research like this report is essential in furthering our understanding and evidencing the need for better support.

By Amanda Warburton-Wynn 03 May, 2024
'Oh, we love having the grandchildren, especially because we can give them back!' How many times have you heard that? But have you heard 'We dread our grandchild coming to visit, we never feel safe until they've gone home'? Child to Parent Abuse is increasingly a topic of research but there is currently no formal definition and, if the consultation carried out by the Home Office in 2023 results in one, it's likely that grandparents won't get a mention in the main title. Of course, the age of grandparents can vary hugely but for those in the older age groups abuse from a child can be hard to understand and even harder to speak about. Whilst in many cases abusive behaviours are not linked to a health or mental health issue, some of the diagnoses involved in some cases of child to parent abuse weren't known until fairly recent times – ADHD was first recognised when mentioned in a National Institution of Clinical Excellence (NICE) report in 2000! Children who we now categorise as being victims of abuse and trauma were often just seen as 'naughty' back in the day and their behaviour needed to be dealt with by punishment. It's essential that we now recognise when children are asking for help – even if that is demonstrated by negative behaviours – but the impact of these behaviours on the whole family needs to be considered. Information Now say that In the past two generations, the number of children being cared for by their grandparents has increased substantially from 33% to 82% - almost two-thirds of all grandparents regularly look after their grandchildren. The UK Government add that 41% of mothers are working full time so it's clear that grandparents are spending more time with their grandchildren than ever before. There are myriad reasons for this including the changing demographics of an ageing population where many grandparents are now more physically active so spending time with grandparents can be more fulfilling than in the past (anyone else remember sitting in silence listening to the adults talk and drink team and hoping it would be time to go home soon?) But for all those positives, abuse of older people is a negative that's featuring more and more in research and in the news. Whilst several studies on both domestic abuse and elder abuse victimisation have reported that adult sons or grandsons, and a smaller proportion of adult daughters or granddaughters, are perpetrators in around half of all abuse against older adults (see Bows et al . 2022), there is little research into abuse by grandchildren who are aged under 18. One reason for this is likely to be the reluctance, by family members, professionals and society as a whole, to label children as 'perpetrators' or 'abusers Parents experiencing abuse from children have told PEGS that the abuse most commonly starts before the age of six and often continues post the child turning 18. It is probable that some children who display abusive behaviours towards parents will also abuse their grandparents but it's possible that some children abuse grandparents only. What is pretty much definite is that grandparents will feel the same emotions as parents if a child is abusing them – shame, guilt, worry about consequences of speaking out and concerned about causing problems within the family, especially if they appear to be the only targets of the abuse. It's also common to look for a reason for the abuse, something that has happened to the child perhaps or something that the grandparent has/hasn't done and to try to rationalise the abuse. As well as more research, there needs to be more recognition from organisations working with older people – statutory and voluntary – that Child to Parent Abuse can and does include children abusing grandparents and those grandparents need support. Abuse from a child is often no less dangerous than abuse from an adult so it shouldn't be laughed off or seen as grandparents not having enough 'control' over their grandchildren. More awareness of the issue, more open discussions and acknowledgement of the impact of this type of abuse will hopefully lead to appropriate support for grandparents who come forward to ask for help, and more of them doing so. Amanda Warburton-Wynn is an independent researcher and consultant specialising in support for domestic abuse and sexual violence survivors with disabilities and older people. You can find out more about Amanda and her work on her website www.awdaconsultancy.com
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