Who Are These Guys? An Exploration of Patterns of Parenting Problems Among Fathers Who Have Maltreated Their Children

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Despite the high prevalence of father-perpetrated maltreatment, relatively little empirical attention has been given to fathers who abuse and/or neglect their children. The current study explored the dynamics of harmful father-child interaction that may underlie fathers’ risk for perpetrating child maltreatment. Data derived from structured interviews of 121 maltreating fathers were used to discern differential patterns of abuse-related problems in parenting. Results show that a minimum of half the fathers showed problems in each of the following areas: emotional unavailability, unresponsiveness, and neglect; negative attributions and misattributions to the child (including hostility, denigration and rejection); developmentally inappropriate or inconsistent interactions (including exposure to domestic violence); and failure to recognize or acknowledge the child's individuality and psychological boundary. These interview-rated difficulties were consistent with expected patterns of demographic risk and self-reported psychosocial difficulties. When considered together in a cluster analysis, groups of abusive fathers emerged with low (37.0%), moderate (38.4%), and severe (24.6%) levels of problems across dimensions of harmful parent-child interactions. Results are discussed in terms of assessment and intervention needed to address father-perpetrated maltreatment.