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Speak Up! - View Question #609 |
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Question: Can you hit back an abusive parent?
Answer: One has the right to defend oneself (See A.R.S. § 13-404.) or an innocent third party (See A.R.S. § 13-406.) from an assault but does not have the right to strike someone to 'get even' or get revenge. (See definition of assault at 13-1203) Only reasonable force may be used to defend oneself or another. A parent, however, has a lot of disciplinary control over a child. Whether something constitutes abuse or assault, or whether it is allowable parental discipline, depends on the circumstances. If a parent is imposing lawful discipline, and the child hits the parent, the child may be prosecuted for an assault.
Responding with violence is generally not a good solution to the problem of abuse. That usually results in the level of violence increasing over time. There are alternative ways to get help, including making a referral to Child Protective Services or by calling the local police to file a complaint about the abuse. One can also inform another trusted adult, like a teacher, and ask for help. You can call 911 to contact the police in an emergency. You can reach Child Protective Services at (888) 767-2445, or (888) SOS-CHILD.
As a practical matter, when the police are confronted with 2 people who are fighting and who live in the same home, the police will arrest one of them to be sure the situation has a chance to calm down. Where there is an adult and his / her child, the police may remove the child rather than the adult, because the officer may believe the adult was exercising appropriate discipline over the child. Additionally, if the adult is arrested, the police would have to place the child into a temporary foster home while the adult is in custody. Therefore, the child frequently is the one who gets arrested, to avoid the need to place both the child and the parent in custody.
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| Comments |
| 6 thru 10 of 22 comments |
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On 05/10/04
anna from AZ said:
well if your boyfriend is 19 than he is now an adult and can make his own choices he has the right to move out and get his own life w/ out his parents telling him what to do
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On 04/24/04
Hana from CA said:
My really good friend that I have known since kindergarten has an extremely abusive mother..she comes to school with black eyes and bruises everywhere. I love her dearly but I don't know how I can help without getting her angry. She will always love her mother, but something needs to happen, this can't go on forever. There is so much tension and abuse going on in the house that to take care of her problems or to overcome her pain, she slits her wrists. I don't know how to help so if anyone has any advice, I'm at ilovesc5.
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On 04/24/04
allie from CA said:
To Kyle- I'm with you all the way buddy!
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On 04/13/04
Tori from VA said:
My father and I have an abusive relationship ever since I was little. Every time we get into a fight it is worse. This past time, I thought I was going to be killed. Mainly everything is emotional abuse and ridicule. Well every time my dad lays a hand on me, my automatic response that I've grown to know is to fight back. I try my hardest to fight back, even though I never win. Now I am moved out of my Dads house, but I need to find a perminent place to live, if anyone has any comments or advice on what I should do
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On 03/29/04
Dave from AZ said:
Police don't determine who is at "fault" in a domestic violence situation. The first thing to be determined is if a law has been broken (assault, criminal damage, threatening, disorderly conduct, violation of order of protection, etc.) In Arizona, all of these crimes can fall under the umbrella of "domestic violence." Police then determine if there is probably cause to make an arrest. Probable cause really has nothing to do with "fault." Police will try to determine who the "primary aggressor" was. This may be the person who "started the fight," or it could be the person who caused injury
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