Nonresident fathers' social networks: The relationship between social support and father involvement

Abstract

Literature and research examining non-resident fathers’ involvement with their chidren has focused primarily on the fathers’ relationship with their child’s mother. Receiving limited attention in the literature has been the inclusion of examining non-resident fathers’ social support networks, the function of these social networks—perceived and received social support, and how these social support networks affect non-resident fathers’ involvement with their children. Using data from Wave One of the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study, this study examined the social support networks non-resident fathers (n = 895) utilized in their involvement with their children. Results of the regression analyses indicate that non-resident fathers’ relationship with their child’s mother and perceived social support from their social networks contributed positively to their involvement with their children. Policy and practice implications are discussed.

Social Services Professionals' Views of Barriers to Supporting Homeless Noncustodial Fathers

“…Literature exploring the state of social services for HNCFs and the barriers experienced by social service professionals who assist them in maintaining the role of a father while securing housing (Castillo & Sarver, 2012;Deslauriers, Devault, Groulx, & Sevigny, 2012;Fagan & Lee, 2011) is scant. Influenced by social norms that perceive fathers solely as breadwinners, social service agencies primarily offer employment-related services to HNCFs, while diminishing the value of their father role due to their homeless status; for example, services aimed at helping HNCFs visit their children are practically nonexistent (Deslauriers et al, 2012;Devault et al, 2010;Negura & Deslauriers, 2009).…”

“…Among the homeless, 68% are single adult males (NCH, 2014), a large percentage of whom are thought to have minor children (NCH, 2014). Despite a slight increase in father‐specific services, such as education and employment programming, barriers associated with accessing support services continue to be seen as an impediment to homeless fathers' ability to resolve their homeless status (Barrett‐Rivera, Lindstrom, & Kerewsky, ; Castillo & Sarver, ; Ferguson & Morley, ; NCH, 2009a, 2009b; Paquette & Bassuk, ). Barker () noted that barriers to services for fathers include inability to bring their children into shelters with them and a lack of readily available childcare that would enable them to focus on participation in services.…”

Indebted Relationships: Child Support Arrears and Nonresident Fathers' Involvement With Children

“…To further minimize selection bias, we control for a rich set of covariates which could also create a spurious association between child support debt and paternal disengagement. Previous studies identify other factors that may influence arrears and father involvement, such as fathers' race or ethnicity (Edin, Tach, & Mincy, 2009;Lerman & Sorenson, 2000), fertility history (including multipartner fertility; Guzzo, 2009;Tach, Mincy, & Edin, 2010), incarceration history (Swisher & Waller, 2008), support available from family and friends (Castillo & Sarver, 2012), mother's use of public assistance (Cancian et al, 2013), and the child's gender (Lundberg, McLanahan, & Rose, 2007) and temperament (McBride, Schoppe, & Rane, 2002). Other factors such as marital status at birth, parental age and education, and fathers' geographical distance from the child have been found to further differentiate patterns of nonresident father-child contact (Cheadle et al, 2010).…”

Fathers’ Roles in the Care and Development of Their Children: The Role of Pediatricians

“…48 Several factors influence the level of involvement of nonresident fathers with their children, including age, level of education, employment status, geographical distance from their child, mental health status, and social support. [48][49][50] The relationship with the mother, including the maintenance of a coparenting relationship, is also a major indicator of nonresident father involvement. 47,51 Although nonresident father involvement has traditionally been thought to decrease over time, recent work shows that involvement can follow several different trajectories, including remaining stable and, in some cases, even increasing.…”