Anxious father confronting a violent thug (7)
I believe the answer is:
fraught
'anxious' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'father confronting a violent thug' is the wordplay.
'father' becomes 'fra'.
'confronting' says to put letters next to each other.
'a violent' indicates an anagram.
'thug' is an anagram of 'ught'.
'fra'+'ught'='FRAUGHT'
(Other definitions for fraught that I've seen before include "Causing stress" , "Distressed" , "Charged (with); tense" , "great anxiety" , "Burdened with anxiety" .)