Promoting Responsible Fatherhood Programming: Factors Affecting Low-Income Fathers' Involvement in Child Protection Services and Court-Restricted Access to Their Children

Abstract

This study investigates how unemployment, traumatic sexual experiences, substance use, intimate partner violence, and parental involvement collectively contribute to involvement with child protective system (CPS) and court-restricted access to children among low-income, ethnically diverse fathers. Participants were 164 fathers involved in a statewide fatherhood program. The majority of the fathers in the program were unemployed (76%) and ethnic minorities (66%). Logistic regression revealed that traumatic sexual experiences and number of children were significant predictors of CPS involvement, whereas employment and traumatic sexual experience were associated with court-restricted access to their children. The results elucidate that clinicians and father-hood programs may need to attend to the history of traumatic experiences, as well as other contextual factors, of fathers and identify how, through trauma-focused interventions, to positively affect them and their children.

Intimate Partner Violence Among Low-Income Fathers: Testing a Stress-Coping Model

“…Items include, “In the past month, how often have you felt that you were unable to control the important things in your life?” and “In the last month, how often have you felt difficulties were piling up so high that you could not overcome them?” Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale (0 = never , 1 = almost never , 2 = sometimes , 3 = fairly often , 4 = very often ) and higher scores indicate higher levels of stress. The internal consistency score of the scale in the present study was slightly below the generally accepted cutoff of .70 (α = .64); however, the small number of items contributed to this alpha and this reliability is consistent with that found using the four-item scale in other studies (Cohen et al, 1983; Gordon et al, 2011). We decided to proceed with the analyses given the novelty of the study.…”

“…Specifically, children have an increased risk of negative outcomes when there is a history of IPV or heightened relationship conflict between parents (Arias & Ikeda, 2006). However, men’s roles as fathers can be leveraged to reduce perpetration of IPV (Gordon et al, 2011; Stover et al, 2011). To develop effective interventions within existing fatherhood programs to reduce violence against women by their male partners, it is essential to understand the mechanisms and risk factors for IPV perpetration among fathers (Tilley & Brackley, 2005).…”

“…Criminal justice involvement was measured by asking participants whether they were ever convicted of a misdemeanor, felony, or both. Participants who indicated they had never been convicted of a crime were given a “0,” respondents who reported being convicted of at least one misdemeanor but not a felony were given a “1,” participants who reported being convicted of at least one felony but no misdemeanor were given a “2,” and participants who endorsed both misdemeanor and felony convictions were given a “3.” This method for quantifying criminal justice involvement has been used in other studies (see Gordon et al, 2011).…”

“…FMPV was assessed with two items that captured psychological and physical violence reportedly inflicted by the male participants’ current female intimate partner in the past 12 months. The adapted measure asked the following: (a) “Has your partner engaged in any of the following behaviors: insult you or put you down, swear at you or threaten you (psychological)?” and (b) “Has your partner engaged in any of the following behaviors: push you, slap you, grab you, punch you, beat you up, burned you or choked you (physical)?” Items were rated consistent with the CTS-2 (0 = never , 1 = once , 2 = twice , 3 = 3-5 times , 4 = 6-10 times , 5 = 11-20 times , 6 = more than 20 times ), and this shortened assessment measure has been used in other studies (Gordon et al, 2011).…”

“…Some studies have observed a negative relationship between age and IPV perpetration, as skills for managing stress are thought to improve across the life span (Caetano, Ramisetty-Mikler, & Field, 2005; Caetano, Vaeth, & Ramisetty-Mikler, 2008; Cunradi, Caetano, Clark, & Schafer, 2000; Sarantakos, 2004; Tilley & Brackley, 2005). In addition, stressful social circumstances such as unemployment status, and involvement in the criminal justice system are associated with greater IPV perpetration (Gordon et al, 2011; Logan, Walker, Staton, & Leukefeld, 2001; Snow, Sullivan, Swan, Tate, & Klein, 2006) and may be explained by perceived stress. The presence of relationship stressors, especially high psychological and physical female-to-male partner violence (FMPV), may represent an important stressor influencing male-perpetrated IPV (Caetano et al, 2008).…”