Child protection expert looks at the father factor
by Michèle Nardelli
At
the top of the tree for child protection workers are the best interests
of children, but traditionally when dealing with children at risk, the
primary focus is on stabilising the mother as key carer of the children.
Visiting child care and protection expert from the University of Dundee, Scotland, Professor Brigid Daniel, says this focus on mothers may obscure the risks and indeed benefits fathers and father figures can provide in children’s lives.
“Child protection research and practice has traditionally focused on mothers – even when a mother is considered a risk to her children, the focus has been on supporting her rehabilitation to care for the children,” Prof Daniel said.
“In overlooking the role of fathers and father figures there are some real risks. We may not be as alert as we should be to the threats posed by fathers and father figures when they are a part of a mother’s life – so when we assess a scenario where children are being harmed or neglected, we may not take account of their role. On the other hand when children at risk are identified, we may not fully consider the positive contribution fathers can make.”
Prof Daniel says generally children in at-risk situations live in fragmented family circumstances, but she believes it is important that the father’s potential for both harm and benefit to the children is given more consideration when care and protection strategies are devised.
“A father’s absence from the day-to-day running of the family should not be assumed to be disinterest,” Prof Daniel said.
“There is potential to access all sorts of supports for children through a father relationship.”
Prof Daniel said to secure the best outcomes for children, researchers and workers in the field needed to consider the full range of influences in children’s lives.
Prof Daniel will team with the Chair of Child Protection and head of the
Australian Centre for Child Protection, Professor Dorothy Scott, to present
a special UNIFEM seminar at the Mercury Cinema on April 6 to mark United
Nations’ World Health Day. The seminar – Is Child Protection a Public Health
issue? Views from Australia and the UK – will look at a whole-of-government
public health model of child protection.
More information and transcript of the talk.
Prof Daniel is a visiting professor at UniSA until the end of April.