Fathers and Child Abuse Allegations in the Context of Parental Separation and Divorce

Abstract

Fathers' role in child abuse in the context of parental separation and divorce has been the subject of continuous stereotyping over the last several decades. This article examines the stereotypes projected against current research, particularly findings from a study of an experimental family court program designed for the better management of residence and contact disputes where child abuse allegations had been made. These findings are discussed in regard to similar studies internationally. While the two prevailing but opposing stereotypes of fathers' role in child abuse in this context were not confirmed by the research, aspects of the stereotypes regarding fathers' views and mothers' views of each other were supported. Problems associated with the paradoxical position of fathers as the most frequently alleged perpetrators of abuse, the most frequently substantiated perpetrators, and also the most frequently unsubstantiated perpetrators tend not to be fully addressed by the current court process for these disputes.

An Abominable Crime: Filicide in the Context of Parental Separation and Divorce

“…The review suggested themes of domestic violence, substance abuse and mental illness within the families of the children, but did not undertake separate analysis of the non-accidental injury (or trauma) group. Since other research (Brown & Alexander, 2007;Brown, Frederico, Hewitt, & Sheehan, 1998) has shown that child abuse in the context of parental separation and divorce does not usually become known to Child Protection Services, it would seem likely that filicide victims and their families may not have many, if any, links with Child Protection Services.…”

“…It has not been considered as a major theme despite recent Australian evidence that shows those filicide victims killed in the context of parental separation and divorce appear to be the largest single group among victims in the filicide population. At the same time, parental separation and divorce has been identified as presenting risks of all types of family violence to children (Brown & Alexander, 2007) though this research has not been linked to filicide. This may be due, in part, to the early research on parental separation and divorce that showed that the impact of parental separation and divorce on parents and children was mostly short term and relatively benign (Wallerstein & Kelly, 1979).…”

A Comprehensive Guide to Child Custody Evaluations: Mental Health and Legal Perspectives

“…2 On the other hand, during custody disputes mothers do make more allegations of abuse against fathers than fathers do against mothers. There are no overall gender differences in the rates of substantiation, however, which means that mothers are no more apt to make false allegations than are fathers (Brown, 2003;.…”

“…There are no dramatic gender differences in rates of suffering physical abuse or neglect (Brown, 2003 Firestone, 2000), although the long-term effects of the abuse may be greater for females than for males (Thompson, Kingree, & Desai, 2004). 7 Both men and women physically abuse and neglect children, but the rates are higher for men.…”

“…7 Both men and women physically abuse and neglect children, but the rates are higher for men. For instance, Brown (2003) The higher rates for male abusers are partially due to child abuse perpetrated by non-biologically-related males such as stepfathers, mother's boyfriends, and other male members of the household. This finding is consistent with the finding that children living with single parents are 77% more likely to suffer abuse or neglect, often by the mother's live-in boyfriend.…”