Australian Non-Resident Fathers’ Relationship and Ongoing Engagement with Their Children: A Critical Focus on Power

Dominic Violi (), Peter Lewis, Cannas Kwok and Nathan J. Wilson
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Dominic Violi: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Campus, Locked Bag 3, Richmond, NSW 2753, Australia
Peter Lewis: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Campus, Locked Bag 3, Richmond, NSW 2753, Australia
Cannas Kwok: School of Nursing, Paramedics and Healthcare Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW 2795, Australia
Nathan J. Wilson: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Hawkesbury Campus, Locked Bag 3, Richmond, NSW 2753, Australia

Social Sciences, 2024, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-17

Abstract: Non-resident fathers are rarely researched from a critical perspective. Becoming a non-resident father often results in major dislocation, presenting challenges and hindrances to a meaningful relationship with children. Dislocation is increased by the involvement of the family court, legal issues, false abuse allegations, and ex-partners. Changing family configurations may marginalize non-resident fathers, with their own perspectives, voices, and lack of power remaining largely unmapped. This paper identifies what hinders non-resident fathers’ relationships with their children from a critical and Australian perspective. In-depth interviews using open-ended questions with 19 non-resident fathers were used to collect data, followed by a five-step critical thematic analysis to focus on the locus of power. Non-resident fathers’ perceptions included a lack of agency and decision-making power; the mother, legal obstacles, and agencies hindered their desired relationships with children. Hindrances were magnified by descriptions of false allegations and IPV from the ex-partner and/or her agents, resulting in a sense of marginalization, silencing, and disempowerment. Australian non-resident fathers in this study identified that desired relationships with their children were hindered by the roles of legal and welfare services, policing, and their ex-partners. The highlighting of these issues points to ways that non-resident fathers with similar experiences of a lack of agency and decision-making power might be better supported by more streamlined and balanced legal processes.

Keywords: non-resident fathers; marginalization; agency; hindrances; disempowerment; masculinity; gender; family court (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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