The pilot study examined intergenerational violence from a scientific perspective for the first time. For this purpose, all files of the victim protection centres in the federal states of Burgenland (23 incidents) and Vorarlberg (19 incidents) from 2018 were statistically evaluated. A total of 62 persons (43 mothers and 19 fathers) were victimized by 47 sons and four daughters. As the basic data of the investigated regions correspond to other federal states it can be expected that the key results are transferable.
The files were analysed according to various questions. Sociodemographic data (age, sex, origin) of people at risk and of perpetrators were examined as well as family constellations, characteristics of the offense, and long-term consequences such as applications for interim injunctions or criminal prosecution.
Except for four self-notifiers in Vorarlberg, all clients came to violence protection centres after the imposition of a restraining order. However, a personal meeting with the victim protection centres took place only after 14 per cent of the restraining orders. The majority of the remaining victims either rejected the support offered or could not be reached.
In the "typical" constellation of intergenerational violence, the person at risk is female, in her mid-fifties, an Austrian citizen without migration background and lives with her son, in his mid-/late twenties and unemployed, together in one household. Often, those who threaten are drug addicts and suffer from mental illnesses.
The acts of violence against mothers or fathers show similarities; every fourth parent was exposed to physical violence. When weapons were used, mothers were affected more frequently; however, assaults against fathers were more brutal. The four daughters jeopardised their mothers, whereas sons threatened several persons at the same time, most notably both of their parents but also other relatives or other people present.
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