Citation

Holt A, Shon PC. Int. J. Offender Ther. Comp. Criminol. 2018; 62(4): 915-934.

Affiliation

University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0306624X16672444

PMID

29409402

Abstract

An examination of scholarly literature concerning fatal violence (i.e., parricide) and non-fatal violence toward parents reveals dominant themes of mental illness, child abuse, and pathology based on a research paradigm that focuses on adolescent perpetrators and, to a lesser extent, elderly victims. This article presents a critical analysis of this literature and argues for a more contextualized approach to the study of violence against parents. It is argued that criminologists should widen their methodological lens to examine this issue from a life course perspective and draw on conceptual tools such as developmental pathways, sources of conflict, and intersectionality to allow for an analysis that can offer new ways of thinking about violence toward parents.

Language: en

Keywords

intersectionality; parent abuse; parricide; violence against parents (VAP); youthcentric violence