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Journal Article The purpose of this study was to investigate how people make judgements about the likelihood of child abuse by stepfathers and biological fathers. One hundred eighty-six university students were asked to indicate whether they believed that: (1) girls who live with stepfathers were at higher, about the same, or lower risk for sexual abuse compared with girls who live with biological fathers; and (2) boys who live with stepfathers were at higher, about the same, or lower risk for physical abuse compared to boys who live with biological fathers. Students were also asked to explain how they…
The Bush administration has proposed several initiatives to improve child well-being by increasing marriage and father involvement. Research supports the intent of the proposal to create a stable environment for children. This report expands on previous studies to examine differences in family structures by race and age. Data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families are presented for six categories of family relationships: child's birth parents are married; child's parents are divorced, but the father visits regularly; the child's biological parents have never married, but are…
The Welfare Peer Technical Assistance Network held a roundtable in November 2003 to discuss best practices for strengthening families separated by parental incarceration. Participants reviewed national trends and examined the components of state initiatives designed to reduce recidivism and alleviate the negative impact of parental incarceration on children. Emphasis was placed on improving parenting skills and nurturing parent-child relationships. This final report summarizes the challenges identified by programs, such as the lack of family stability, limited parenting skills, child support…
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Journal Article Recent statistics reveal that children living apart from their fathers are at an increased risk of suffering negative outcomes. One study found that the rate of child abuse in single-parent families is nearly twice the rate of child abuse in two-parent households (Federal Interagency Forum, 1997). Another study, after controlling for various variables, revealed that boys who grew up outside of intact marriages were, on average, more than twice as likely as other boysto end up in jail (Harper and McLanahan, 1998).These findings have sparked increased interest in the critical role of fathers…
This paper explores the number of parents in prisons and jails in the United States and in the State of Hawaii, and unique challenges faced by Hawaiian parents who are incarcerated and their children. The growth in the number of females in the Hawaiian prison population is noted, as well as the State's use of Oklahoma and Arizona private prisons for approximately 24% of its felons. Information is provided on the characteristics of incarcerated parents, Hawaii's prison population profile and trends, negative impact of parental incarceration on children, parents, and families, and problems with…
