Brief
Between July 1998 and October 1999, the Center on Fathers, Families, and Public Policy (CFFPP) held a series of colloquia that focused on the experiences of low-income fathers as they negotiate the systems of paternity establishment and child support enforcement. The meetings were attended by low-income, mostly never-married noncustodial fathers, caseworkers from community-based organizations who work with low-income, never-married noncustodial fathers, researchers, policy analysts, and poverty lawyers whose work has centered on low-income noncustodial fathers and their families. The…
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Journal Article This study examines the interrelationship of nonresident father visitation, parental conflict over this visitation, and the mother's satisfaction with the father's visitation. We consider the prevalence and characteristics of diverse family types defined by these interrelated processes and the implications of these arrangements for child adjustment, global well-being, and behavior problems. Data come from the first wave of the National Survey of Families and Households, from mothers in households with children younger than 18 years old who had a father living elsewhere. Results show that a…
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Journal Article Recent cases that awarded custody to the birth father of a child have prompted state legislatures to reform adoption laws that were originally intended to secure permanency for children who had lost both parents. Contemporary cases often involve unwed fathers who are not given the opportunity to approve or object to the adoption. However, judgments that favor the birth father in such cases cause the separation of the child from the only parents he or she has ever known, causing attachment disruption and other difficulties. States attempted to remedy the situation by either expanding their…
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Journal Article This article examines provisions of the Uniform Adoption Act in the context of efforts by unwed fathers to assume custody of children who have been adopted. It describes the psychological impact of adoption on the birth parents, the adoptive parents, and the child, and highlights court decisions in three controversial cases involving the rights of unwed fathers in adoptions. In each case, the biological father sought to overturn an adoption to which the biological mother had consented. The adoptive parents countered with charges that the father had abandoned his child. The Uniform Adoption…
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Journal Article The relative extent to which mothers and fathers administer physical punishment sheds light on family relationships, parental roles and, perhaps, the identity of potential abusers. In this study, 362 British mothers and 103 fathers of randomly selected children from 366 two-parent families were interviewed. According to self-reports, the proportions of mothers and fathers who had used physical punishments were similar, as were the frequencies with which they used them. About 50 percent more mothers than fathers smacked or hit their children weekly or more often, whereas fathers were more…
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Journal Article Using data from interviews with caseworkers in two agencies, this article describes the extent to which 74 African American fathers participated in services on behalf of children placed in kinship foster homes because of abuse, neglect, or dependency. The data revealed that few fathers were involved in case assessments, case planning, or receipt of services. Caseworkers usually did not pursue paternal involvement or identify lack of participation as a professional concern. The article explores possible explanations for the low participation and identifies practice and policy changes that…
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Journal Article Fifteen foster fathers were interviewed for this study about their experience as foster parents. The men provided information about their motivations for becoming foster fathers, their function as a foster parent, attachment and loss during their relationship, and personal connections between the child and the birth family. In general, the study found that the motivations of foster fathers focused on the emotional benefits and the strength of commitment the man feels to the child. The foster fathers reported involvement in all parts of the child's life, with the exception of contact with…
This chapter reports the findings of a study of father-son relationships among 18 adolescent sex offenders. The objective of the research was to examine the role of paternal deprivation in psycho-sexual development and sexually abusive behavior. None of the boys in the study reported having a warm and nurturing relationship with their birth fathers. Slightly more than half of the boys indicated that their father had abandoned their family when they were young. Eighteen percent of the boys had been sexually abused by their father and 50 percent were physically abused. Psychoanalytic theory…
