Collaborative Community-Based HAP Support Strategies
Hostile-aggressive parents generally try to keep their pattern of behaviour from being noticed by friends and others in the community such as schools and day care providers. Most of the time HAP parents they know that what they are doing to their children is wrong but do not want to be embarrassed for what they know most people in the community would consider to be bad parenting behaviour. These HAP parents continuously hide the truth behind a wall of deception and over a period of time become quite skilled at deceiving others. Often HAP parents may threaten and intimidate children to remain silent about abuse, causing children to be terrified of saying anything about their abusive parent’s behaviour.
Members of the community can play a vital role in eliminating the harm done by hostile-aggressive parents. By learning to identify the presence of HAP and refusing to participate in a hostileaggressive parent’s campaign of abuse against a child, people in the community can help to protect the child and help to make the community a better and more caring place for all to live.