Over the years, within the vast landscape of "intra-familial violence," phenomena such as child maltreatment, spousal violence, and witnessing violence have emerged from the shadow cone of shame and silence and have been the subject of media campaigns and interventions, acquiring dignity not only as "news facts" but also as clinical and scientific realities.

Within the universe of intrafamilial violence, however, there is another phenomenon that goes by the name of "filio-parental violence" and consists of repeated mistreatment enacted by the child against his or her parents.

This is still an obscure and understudied phenomenon, and the reasons for this lack of attention are many. Within these families, in fact, an attitude of underestimation of the actual seriousness of certain behaviors prevails, whereby the parent-victims tend to minimize their child's violent conduct. This tendency to minimize on the part of the parent finds reason in an emotion that plays a key role in this phenomenon, namely shame. It is by virtue of the intertwining of these factors, therefore, that only the most serious and extreme cases come to the attention of the news, the authorities and therefore the experts, so that only the tip of the iceberg of a very complex phenomenon emerges, and on which there is an attitude of omertà, especially on the part of the victims themselves, the parents, who are ashamed since they believe they are the very cause of the phenomenon, considered a failure of the entire family system.

Target audience

Professionals and professionals in the field, teachers, parents and all people who, in some way, are touched by the proposed topics and interested in learning more about them.

More information

Online registration.
Participation is free of charge.

Speaker

Virginia Suigo
Psychologist-psychotherapist. She conducts clinical consultation and psychotherapy with adolescents and adults and parenting support interventions. Coordinates the team of Minotaur psychologists who collaborate with the Juvenile Justice Services of Lombardy. She carries out training and supervision activities. She is Coordinator and Lecturer for the Minotaur master's program "Adolescent transgressors. Assessment and Treatment." She is also Lecturer at the Minotaur's School of Training in Adolescent and Young Adult Psychotherapy in Milan and at the Master's Degree "Adolescents in Crisis" in Padua. He wrote the book, "Violent Children" (2021).