Outcomes for Families of Violent Children with Mental Illness

• In Event: 220 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 06. Family Conflict and Family Violence

Abstract

This article presents a framework for understanding mental health and violence in the family. I identify three family-level outcomes that might occur when there is a violent child or sibling with mental illness: intact and functioning, intact but malfunctioning, and reformed. I situate these outcomes within a framework drawn from general systems and family systems literature, which enabled me to move from individual-level to family-level effects of mental illness and violence. I focus on how role expectations and levels of cohesion and flexibility can play significant roles in the ability of a family to adapt to chronic stress associated with mental illness and violence. In the current social climate of mental illness, deinstitutionalization, and violence, as well as the recent mass killings at the hands of offenders with mental illness (e.g., James Holmes and Aurora, CO; Adam Lanza and Newtown, CT), the fields of victimization, criminology, and family studies need a greater understanding of how families are affected by both mental illness and violence. I conclude with suggestions on how future research can provide insight into the unique family-level effects of mental illness and violence.

Author

• Karyn A Sporer, University of Nebraska-Omaha