Hostile-Aggressive Parenting
Hostile-Aggressive Parenting (HAP), which is a serious form of child maltreatment and abuse, is encountered in many high conflict child-custody disputes. Within the family court system today, there is very little, if any, published standard criteria or definitions relied on to determine the kind
of parenting behaviours and actions would be considered as a form of abuse or maltreatment against children.
Hostile-Aggressive Parenting (HAP) is defined as:
A general pattern of behaviour, manipulation, actions or decision-making of a person (usually a parent or guardian) that either directly or indirectly;
1) creates undue difficulties or interference in the relationship between a child with another person (usually a parent or guardian) involved with the parenting and/or rearing of the child and/or,
2) promotes or maintains an unwarranted unfairness or inequality in the parenting arrangements between a child’s parents and/or guardians and/or,
3) promotes ongoing and unnecessary conflict between parents and/or guardians which adversely affects the parenting, well-being and rearing of a child.
Creating awareness is extremely important because a parent engaged in Hostile-Aggressive Parenting will often feel encouraged to intensify their aggressive behaviour when they realize that the courts fail to exercise sanctions against them for their abusive parenting practices. He or she will also take comfort in that the community in general will choose not to get involved, probably because they don’t know what to do.
Understanding and effectively dealing with Hostile-Aggressive Parenting (HAP) Published by Family Conflict Resolution Services