Reports of children abusing their parents or carers are on the rise, the operations director of the Appoġġ agency, Ruth Sciberras, told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday.
She attributed the increase to the fact that many of the children would themselves have witnessed abusive behaviour in families. However there was no necessary link between the witnessing of domestic violence and the committing of domestic violence.
She said the rise in reports could also be partly attributed to increased awareness arising from the provision of services relating to domestic violence.
100 such cases had been identified by Appoġġ to serve as the focus of expert research into the problem.
The comments were made as the Family Affairs Committee discussed abusive behaviour by children on their parents or other adults.
Maria Mangion, who leads the domestic violence services offered by Appoġġ, said that most parents who had suffered abuse at the hands of their children were between the ages of 30 and 45. Children generally abused the parent of the opposite sex, with most cases involving boys who abused their mothers.
The reported abuse was either emotional, psychological, or physical, with no incidents of sexual violence included in the cases under examination, she said.
However, social taboos surrounding domestic violence in general could be responsible for the lack of reports of sexual violence, and for the underreporting of domestic violence committed by children.
Ms Mangion said that parents often feared correcting their children’s behaviour, or were unable to do so.
She emphasised the importance of setting boundaries for children from birth, pointing out that children were becoming increasingly conscious of their power to influence adults, and often tested these boundaries in order to learn how best to get what they wanted.
Referring to the approach taken by the positive parenting course offered by the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, she said that consequences for disobedience or improper behaviour should reflect the nature of the action committed.
She also pointed to the involvement of children in the setting of their own boundaries - such as by allowing them to choose when to play and when to do their homework - as a key way in which to get them to behave.
Ms Sciberras said Appoġġ aims to help both the victims and the perpetrators of domestic violence.
The agency kept itself abreast of new behavioural issues such as addiction to the internet.
The agency now had social workers on call 24 hours a day to respond to reports made through its helpline or from police stations.