The lives of families entering the child protection arena may be shaped by a range of troubles, including material deprivation, physical and mental health problems, substance misuse or domestic abuse. Despite the interest in whole family approaches, the issue of how professionals fail to work effectively with fathers is longstanding and resistant to change. This paper illustrates challenges in building working relationships with men, including the challenge of avoiding binary thinking in the assessment of fathers as 'risk' or 'resource'.Drawing on our qualitative longitudinal study of men's experiences of child protection in England, we highlight how both organisational (clashing time perspectives) and cultural (gendered-thinking) factors can trouble the potential relationship between social workers and fathers. We argue for a more gender sensitive approach to social work practice, which can respond more fully and effectively to the experiences of fathers and mothers. 2The Trouble with Fathers: the impact of time and gendered-thinking on working relationships between fathers and social workers, in child protection practice in England.

Based on a qualitative, sociological study, this article presents fathering after divorce as a complex moral and relational process; a navigation of post-separation family life shaped by gendered patterns of caring for children. New contexts of fathering can bring transformative experiences of care, but fathers also encounter the 'pull' of a gendered model of parenting, which normalises different levels of caring responsibility without disrupting a sense of the equal moral status of fathers and mothers. The article highlights two central themes: fathering as 'relational work' and moral reasoning within fathering practices and identity. The idea of 'fairness' as part of capturing processes involved in fathers' efforts to sustain relationships and caring arrangements that are 'bearable' is then discussed. The article argues for a gender-sensitive approach to understanding parenting after separation, which fully appreciates the deeply felt, embodied nature of fathering and mothering, and acknowledges their relational and moral dimensions. key words care • co-parenting • divorce • fathering • separation

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This article presents data from the first large-scale study of fathers involved in repeat (or recurrent) care proceedings in England. The project complements important research on mothers and recurrence. It consisted of three elements: an analysis of population-level administrative data from the Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS), a survey of fathers in pre-proceedings and care proceedings, and a qualitative longitudinal (QL) study of recurrent fathers. Here we report findings from the survey and the QL study, offering an expanded definition and description of fathers and recurrence. Elsewhere, we reported that a significant number of fathers appear in recurrent care proceedings and that the majority return with the same partner. Alongside this, there is also a notable pattern of “missing” fathers demonstrated by the proportion of lone mothers reappearing before the court. Our survey indicates a certain profile of recurrent fathers, but also that recurrent fathers are not straightforwardly a homogenous group. We report on the significance of recurrent fathers’ early lives, on the phenomenon of enduring couple relationships and on the prevalence of issues affecting parenting, such as poor mental health, substance use and domestic abuse. Insights from the QL study in particular reveal legacies of harm, loss, and a lack of emotional and relational resources in childhood, which have debilitating and far-reaching consequences. We argue the importance of understanding the vulnerabilities of recurrent fathers and of challenging certain assumptions in child welfare and family justice practices. There is much to be learnt from existing services for recurrent mothers, but also a need for bespoke or adapted services that may be more responsive to particular circumstances of recurrent fathers and couples.