Type:	Journal Article
Title:	The attitudes of separated resident mothers in Australia to children spending time with fathers
Other Titles:	Australian journal of family law
Authors:	McInnes, Elspeth
Keywords:	Impact on children and young people;Child protection;Legal issues;Family law
Year:	2007
Publisher:	Butterworths
Citation:	21 (1), April 2007
Notes:	General Overview: This article reports on the findings of a survey of 175 separated resident mothers in Australia, conducted in late 2005 and early 2006. It compares the attitudes to and frequency of child-father contact for mothers who had experienced violence or abuse at separation or later, and those who had not. The survey was conducted in the context of debate over reforms to the Family Law Act 1975, which placed greater emphasis on equal shared parental responsibility and created new penalties for parents who breach contact orders. Objective: The research aimed to identify separated mothers’ attitudes to child-father contact, the factors which had informed their attitudes, and how their attitudes influenced the frequency of child-father contact. Methods: Separated resident mothers with primary care of a child under the age of eighteen, whose father lived in Australia, were invited to participate in the study. Two focus groups were held to inform the development of the survey, which was then published on the website of the National Council of Single Mothers and their Children (NCSMC). The survey was widely circulated. Altogether, 175 women responded to the survey with 62% reporting being afraid of their ex-partner at the time of separation and 42% reporting continuing fear at the time of the survey. However, as the sample was self-selected, the findings cannot necessarily be extrapolated to the general population. Results: Both groups of mothers were generally positive towards child-father contact as a concept. However, mothers who had experienced fear at separation were less confident that their children were safe and happy in their father’s care. Despite this variation in mothers’ attitudes, there was no significant difference in frequency of child-father contact, with over 60% of mothers in both groups reporting fortnightly or more contact. Instead, frequency of contact was more likely to be influenced by factors such as the distance between households, high work demands and health problems. The article also analyses the survey data on disruptions to planned contact, the location of contact handover, mothers’ perceptions of their children’s relationships with their fathers, and mothers’ use and evaluation of services involved in child-contact arrangements. The author notes that mothers who had experienced fear were significantly more likely to use a contact service or public handover place. Conclusion: The separated mothers in this study were generally supportive of child-father contact but many had concerns for their children’s safety during contact. The author argues that the data highlights the inadequacy of recent family law approaches that construct resident mothers as the ‘gatekeepers’ of child contact. It concludes that public policy should place greater emphasis on child safety.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/12298
ISSN:	0817-623X
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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