How Childhood Challenging Violent or Aggressive Behaviour (CCVAB) is discussed both historically and more recently in 2017, Thorley and Coates felt they were ‘Grappling with an Enigma’ when trying to explain Child to Parent Violence and Abuse (CPVA) due to the various limitations of definitions created. For example, was there a difference in behaviour displayed between: • CPV - Child to Parent Violence compared to • CPVA- Child to Parent Violence and Abuse or • VCB- Violent Challenging Behaviour or • VCB - Violent Childhood Behaviour or • APVA - Adolescence to Parent Violence and Abuse Alternatively, were definitions developed by professionals depending on which lens they saw the behaviour through? Or were terms used to reflect what families described the behaviour to be? Or perhaps terms varied depending on the age of the child. For this reason, they introduced Childhood Challenging Violent or Aggressive Behaviour (CCVAB) as an umbrella term for all of the previously used acronyms. Adopting CCVAB as a single definition allowed for all children to be included up to the age of 18 years old (as per legal definitions) and onto 25 years old for those with SEND. This definition recognised that many of the behaviours displayed were not ‘towards’ parents directly and could involve property damage, be directed at siblings or be displayed indirectly towards others including peers at school or school staff. The aim of this project set out to critically analyse Policing Childhood Challenging Violent or Aggressive Behaviour: responding to vulnerable families by reflecting on more than 9 months of reported incident data. There is an accepted barrier in developing analysis of Childhood Challenging, Violent or Aggressive Behaviour (CCVAB) due to the ‘nature of the beast’. Generally speaking, families do not, or will not, discuss violence in the home in most situations: be this adult to adult/ child to adult/ adult to child. It is acknowledged the data is an insight only rather than a whole view of CCVAB. This insight is a necessary step for developing a more informed approach to Policing Childhood Challenging Violent or Aggressive Behaviour. At times the officers attending are unable to offer any real intervention due to the age of the child involved, something that is beyond their control. For this reason, the thoughts of Schon come to mind where ‘In the varied topography of professional practice, there is a high, hard ground overlooking a swamp…” or the ‘outsider’ professional lens that CCVAB is seen. The professional lens (such as that of a responding officer) can allow for application of theory, where “On the high ground manageable problems lend themselves to solution through application of research-based theory and technique”. This oversight means there is no mechanism for the police to detail the incident other than refer the family to relevant Child Service agencies. Current and previous evidence from research and working with families experiencing CCVAB details how CCVAB can commence from age 2-3 years and more frequently commences between the ages of 6-9 years than at any other age. This means that at the time of police involvement the escalation of CCVAB behaviours may have been ongoing for more than 6 years, without any intervention, support or professional awareness of the situation. This unreported and unsupported position can leave families ‘In the swampy lowland,’ where ‘messy, confusing problems defy technical solution’.

This book seeks to break new ground in the way in which adolescent-to-parent violence and abuse is understood. Incorporating knowledge from an original research project undertaken in the UK and international literature, this book provides insight into the prevalence of this form of domestic violence which can include psychological, physical, and economic abuse. Young person and family characteristics are explored, and links are made between sibling aggression and school bullying behaviours. A key theme is how the data can be used to develop statistical models which can screen for young people behaving abusively towards their parents. It discusses how the research can be applied to inform theoretical frameworks, policy development, and professional practice, with a focus on prevention and early intervention that uses positive youth justice and restorative approaches.

This is the updated version of Lets Talk About Child to Parent Violence to recognise that Childhood Challenging, Violent or Aggressive Behaviour (CCVAB) in the home involves more than parents. CCVAB affects everyone in the home, children as well as any other adult. Childhood Challenging Violent or Aggressive behaviour in the home is gaining wider recognition across society leading to an 'opening up' of the lives of families but in the real world little has changed for families. This book is relevant to professionals and parent/carers or those who want to gain a better understanding of Childhood Challenging, Violent or Aggressive Behaviour (CCVAB). CCVAB can be diagnosed as a cognitive disorder identified by the World Health Organisation as a 'Conduct Disorder within the context of the family' yet this diagnosis has not been used for children so far. CCVAB is most usually thought of as Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse (APVA) but this overlooks the age when most CCVAB starts - at the age of 6-9 years. For families this means they are left unsupported until children reach adolescence when the behaviour has escalated and become entrenched, something that could have been prevented had earlier recognition been made. Childhood Challenging, Violent or Aggressive Behaviour (CCVAB) is an umbrella term for a range of acronyms previously used to identify children's challenging, violent or aggressive behaviour in the home. Previous acronyms such as CPVA or APVA focus on violence and abuse towards the parent themselves yet evidence repeatedly shows this is not always the case and sibling abuse or property destruction can also happen. We look to open up understanding and highlight how listening to families is the first step of developing support for these families and remove preconceived views about who these families and children are. We consider CCVAB against new information about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), children with Special Educational Needs or Disability (SEND), Neurological development and Learning Difficulties to bring attention to the many ways that Childhood Challenging, Violent or Aggressive Behaviour can happen. This book looks at what is known and what is emerging to help provide better understanding. the impact on families living with CCVAB is immense, by including parents views these families explain what living with CCVAB is for them in the real world and how little support is available to them and their family

This book sets out the final report for the 2018 Child to Parent Violence and Aggression survey by Dr Wendy Thorley and Mr Al Coates. The book is set out over 8 sections to recognise the voices of those parent/ carers who took part in the survey, detailing what their real world was and has been. Childrens violent and aggressive behaviour is gaining wider recognition across society that has led to an 'opening up' towards understanding what CPVA means; however in the real world little has changed in providing these families with the support they need now. This makes this book relevant to professionals and those within society as a parent/carer or those who want to gain better understanding of children's challenging, violent or aggressive behaviours. Within the book Section 1 looks back at the past 18 months of developing awareness of CPVA and provides an insight into who the parent/ carers were who took part in the survey; collectively representing 538 of the families living with CPVA today. Section 2 considers if there is a higher risk in some families of CPVA occurring than other families based on the type of family the child lives in and the approach to parenting adults adopt. This section also recognises that CPVA is not exclusively a parent/ carer issue but impacts and affects everyone within the home including siblings. Section 3 considers age-stage developmental norms and how these do not reflect the behaviour parent/ carers report. This section also challenges perceptions that CPVA is an adolescent concern and argues that the lack of support for children under the age of adolescence does little to address the behaviour becoming entrenched or escalating. Section 4 offers a wider approach to why children behave in this way and highlights that there is a distinct difference between those children who intend to engage CPVA and those children who do not. This section provides an alternative distinct pathway and argues that for those children who do not intend to display CPVA the World Health Organisation categories should be applied, rather than adopting CPVA definitions to reflect all children who display seen as CPVA. Section 5 presents the real world cost to families living with CPVA in both economical terms and emotional costs. Families living with CPVA highlight how this affects employment opportunities, relationships, and their overall physical and emotional well-being that over time is costly not only to the family themselves but to society overall. Section 6 reflects on who supports families living with CPVA across a range of services and discusses effectiveness from the family viewpoint, that leads to Section 7. Section 7 provides the parent/ carer voice and highlights what these families would like to happen next, in order to support them and their child. nine recommendations are made by parent/ carers living with CPVA if society is to move from talking about CPVA and addressing CPVA. the final section, Section 8, reflects on CPVA overall and reconsiders how CPVA is perceived across society and across those services who support families, highlighting that without change the status quo remains.

Tying in to a nationwide joint campaign by the Evangelical Alliance and Care for the Family, Krish Kandiah wants us all to take seriously Jesus's call to 'suffer the little children' by engaging with the needs of the many thousands of children up and down the country who are in care and whom the church could and should be helping. Krish and his wife Miriam have adopted and fostered children themselves and their experience - and that of the many others in this book - is very different from the popular myth which suggests social services seek to prevent Christians from getting involved. Krish argues that whatever the state's stance may be, it is a part of our calling as God's church to get involved where it's hardest, and to help these children out of the tough realities they find themselves in. Filled with stories from people who have adopted or were adopted themselves, alongside practical advice on how it all works and the challenges that will come, this book makes a compelling case that the church can and must make a difference in these children's lives, and asks us all to consider our response.

Adoption has long been enmeshed in the politics of abortion. But as award-winning journalist Joyce makes clear, adoption has lately become entangled in the conservative Christian agenda.