There is a lot of stigma about this. It's feelings of guilt, shame, and a sense of exposure, says Lisa Andersson, university lecturer in social work at Malmö University.
When the balance of power shifts in this way in a family, it becomes difficult to talk about it and you don't want to seek help, she says.
More than 5,000 young people between the ages of 20 have answered questions about violence, verbal aggression, and controlling behavior towards parents in a survey.
One in twenty young people answered that they had been violent towards their parents at some point during the past year. It may sound a lot, but it's still at a much lower level than in Spain, the USA, and other countries where similar surveys have been conducted.
A culture of violence in families is not accepted in Sweden and has not been for a very long time, says Björn Johnson, professor in social work at Lund University.
Four percent of the respondents answered that they express themselves aggressively towards a parent on a daily basis, for example by shouting, swearing, or insulting. It is twice as common for it to be directed towards mothers compared to fathers.
Mothers are also more often exposed to different types of controlling behaviors, such as destroying or stealing things at home or threatening to harm themselves or others if they don't get their way.
Mothers have a greater responsibility for the family and take the conflicts with the children. They take more of the blow, says Björn Johnson.
Warm Parenting
A warm parenting and good social bonds within the family reduce the risk of violence towards parents. If parents themselves have subjected their children to physical violence, the risk increases that the children will later subject them to this in return.
But it's absolutely not the case that all young people who do this themselves have been beaten by their parents, he emphasizes.
Researchers also point to risk factors among young people themselves, for example, if they are impulsive, have psychological problems or low empathetic ability.
The study, which is the first of its kind in Sweden and the Nordic countries, has been published in the scientific journal Journal of Family Violence. Researchers hope that it will contribute to putting the problem on the map, so that it becomes a natural topic to raise, for example, within social services and child and youth psychiatry.
