PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS IN FAMILIES WITH INTERPARENTAL VIOLENCE

The present study attempted to explore the relationships between the parents and their children in the context of
families with interparental violence (violence perpetrated towards mothers). The exploration was grounded on the
family systems and attachment theories. Through qualitative method, the researcher has tried to understand the
subjective experiences of adolescents living in families with violence. Narratives of adolescents traces the various
forms in which they had been exposed to interparental violence. The study was conducted among school going
adolescents in Kasaragod district of Kerala, India. In-depth interviews were conducted with 25 adolescents, who
reported of living with interparental violence since their childhood. The study reveals adolescents growing up with
continuous exposure to various forms of physical abuse and its aftermath, involvement of adolescents during violence,
co-occurrence of abuse, has to a large extent affected the quality of relationships with their parents and resulted in
insecure parent-child attachments.