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Journal Article Written for lawyers, judges, and child welfare professionals, this article considers the parental role of men who batter their spouses and partners. Parenting styles of batterers, their impact on the relationship between the mother and child, and the risk for children living in a violent home are discussed. Post-separation issues and litigation tactics used by batterers in child custody cases and other legal processes are identified, including threats made to the mother, failure to pay child support, manipulation of children, and income advantage. The article also profiles programs that work…
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Journal Article Approximately 1.7 million men were incarcerated during 1997, many of whom were fathers. The impact of paternal imprisonment is especially significant for African Americans who are disproportionately represented in the prison system. Although prevailing public opinion considers African American fathers to be uninvolved in the lives of their children, research has found that unmarried black men are more likely to spend time with their children and maintain attachments than unmarried men of other races. This article describes the barriers to paternal involvement for African American men in…
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Journal Article Thirty inner-city fathers of preschoolers described how they see their role in promoting their children's mental health. Fifteen were very involved fathers with a strong sense of competence, and 15 were uninvolved fathers with a weak sense of competence. Through qualitative analysis of the interviews, we developed a typology consisting of five profiles of fathers. The fathers had two contrasting concepts of their children's mental health: one focused on fitting into society and meeting expectations, the other on expressing individuality and independence. The implications for promoting fathers…
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Journal Article Nonresidential parents are in a precarious position as by definition they are outside of the family residence after divorce and hence often perceived as outside of the family system. Semi-structured qualitative telephone interviews with 36 nonresidential parents living 50 or more miles from their children revealed social and institutional systems provide both assistance and barriers to parents following divorce.The challenge of continuing with their identity and role as a parent and family member was shown through their interactions with schools, religious institutions, and work places, as…
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Journal Article This study examines the role of biological and social fathers in the lives of low-income African American adolescent girls (N= 302). Sixty-five percent of adolescents identified a primary father; two thirds were biological and one third were social fathers. Adolescents reported more contentious and less close relationships with biological than with social fathers. Multivariate regression analyses indicated that daughters' perceptions of anger and alienation from fathers was related to greater emotional and behavioral problems for adolescents, whereas perceptions of trust and communication…
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Journal Article Previous longitudinal research has shown that parental monitoring is a powerful predictor of child outcomes. Children from families with low levels of monitoring are particularly at risk for antisocial behavior, difficulties in school, and related problems. We studied whether parental monitoring--as reported by mothers/stepmothers, fathers/stepfathers, interviewers, and teachers--differs across two-parent biological families, stepmother families, and stepfather families. Two-parent biological families were hypothesized to have higher levels of monitoring than stepparent families. Controlling…
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Journal Article Aside from providing financial support, exactly how nonresident fathers benefit children remains unclear. This article assesses whether the quality of the interaction between nonresident fathers and their children is related to adolescent adjustment, net of visitation frequency. Results suggest that participating in leisure activities with nonresident fathers does not influence children's well-being. Results provide mixed evidence as to whether children benefit from nonresident fathers' involvement in authoritative parenting. Whereas talking to nonresident fathers about "other things going on…
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Journal Article Family practitioners who provide divorce education programs should be aware that a child in a sole-custody household (especially one headed by the father) is highly likely to lack insurance coverage for access to health care services for healthy development. Examining 543 divorce records in New Hampshire, the author analyzed coverage across divergent family types following custody negotiations and found that a child in a sole-custody household was at higher risk for lacking coverage than was one in a shared-custody household. These results were confirmed by a chi-square test and logical…
This study addresses four sets of related questions: (1) What are the conditions and capabilities of new unmarried parents, especially fathers? How many of these men hold steady jobs? How many want to be involved in raising their children? (2) What is the nature of the relationships between unmarried parents? How many of these couples are involved in stable relationships? What proportion expects to marry? What proportion is exposed to high levels of conflict or domestic violence? (3) What factors push new unmarried parents together? What factors pull them apart? In particular, how do public…
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…
