The Non-Custodial Parent and His Infant

Abstract

Infants perceive divorce as a violation of the routines of everyday life. They are forced to cope with the collapse of their most familiar unit of caregiving frame, which is vital for proper growth and development, which may cause developmental arrest or regression in the infant. Although many factors, related to both parents and infant are involved, this paper aims to describe the special needs of infants and toddlers in relation to their non-custodial parent (usually the father). Despite the dearth in empirical research data, there has been a growing recognition among professionals of the vital role played by the non-custodial parent in the postdivorce adjustment of the infant. The paper refers to the empirical field research, mostly with older children. To promote a better adjustment of an infant caught in the midst of divorce, some guidelines for visitation arrangements are suggested in view of the normal developmental milestones. Parental conflict and other parental factors, which might influence the non-custodial parent-infant relationship and are potentially hazardous to a smooth and proper development, are also discussed briefly.

Manufacturing ghost fathers: the paradox of father presence and absence in child welfare

“…Not seeing fathers has a significant impact on mothers as well. Mothers are expected to fill the role of both parents and further expected to mediate relationships between children and fathers (DeLuccie 1995; Ram et al. 2002) as well as between fathers and professionals.…”

Connecting father absence and mother blame in child welfare policies and practice

“…The child welfare literature is full of what Risley-Curtiss & Heffernan (2003) call "covert ways of blaming" (p.398): holding mothers responsible even when fathers, or men, are either the source of the problem or, minimally, equally responsible. For example, mothers are expected to assume some responsibility for positively nurturing the relationship between father and child (DeLuccie, 1995;Ram, Finzi & Cohen, 2002) while no similar expectation is outlined for fathers. Similarly, as Daniel and Taylor (1999), Scourfield (2003), Swift (1995) and others have noted, the everyday discourse of child welfare workers is a gendered discourse.…”

The Divorce Process and Child Adaptation Trajectory Typology (DPCATT) Model: The Shaping Role of Predivorce and Postdivorce Interparental Conflict

“…Researchers who are interested in more appropriately delineating temporal dynamics of the link between interparental conflicts and child adaptation during the divorce process are highly encouraged to use such techniques. Although the comprehensive and enduring implications of interparental conflict (during pregnancy) for young children’s (e.g., infants and toddlers) development have been extensively demonstrated (e.g., Ramsdell & Brock, 2020 ; Towe‐Goodman et al, 2012 ; Zhou et al, 2017 ), there is still a dearth of research considering such effects in the context of parental divorce (Heinicke et al, 1997 ; Ram et al, 2002 ). Surprisingly, almost all of the existing research in this field are based on samples of adolescent and/or young adult children.…”