Fathers' Perspectives of Their Co-Parental Relationships Postdivorce: Implications for Family Practice and Legal Reform

Abstract

Recent research on the effects of divorce indicates that the relationp between ex-spouses is a crucial, albeit often overlooked, factor in the postdivorce adjustment of mothers, fathers, and children (Ambert, 1989; Furstenburg & Cherlin, 1991; Masheter, 1991). Systems theory suggests that a divorce does not end the relationship between two individuals but transforms it (Elkin, 1982). It is important to recognize that ex-spouses continue to exert an influence on each other directly (e.g., payment of child support) and/or indirectly (e.g., through the children) well after a divorce (Ahrons, 1981; Kerr & Bowen, 1988). From a systemic perspective, the degree of interdependence is a central concept in understanding the way relationships are constructed and maintained and is based on mutual contingency (i.e., change in one person influences another) (Scanzoni, Polonko, Teachman, & Thompson, 1989). Subsequently, the notion of interdependence is extremely useful in conceptualizing family relationships postdivorce--for even when the formal husband/wife relationship ceases to exist, the continuing relationship between parents, vis-a-vis their children, usually necessitates some level of mutual involvement. Innovations in custody arrangements (i.e., joint custody and shared parenting) and increasing involvement of fathers in childrearing serve as links requiring divorced parents to engage in frequent interactions (Ahrons & Perlmutter, 1982). The notion of interdependence can also be reflected in research which has found that former spouses have functioned as a source of help to each other--either in the form of emotional support or instrumental assistance (Ahrons, 1980; Mitchell, 1981). Stack (1986) has suggested that this form of interdependence (using the former spouse as a source of social support) tends to be discouraged given the social attitude that it is best for divorcing couples to make a clean break. Contact between ex-spouses has typically been viewed in the past as pathological and an indication of separation distress (Kressel, Lopez-Morillas, Weinglass, & Deutsch, 1978). However, a growing body of evidence has pointed to the benefits of more harmonious co-parental relationships, given the detrimental effects of continued interparental conflict on children (Emery, 1988; Furstenburg & Cherlin, 1991; Hetherington, Cox, & Cox, 1989) and adults (Ambert, 1989; Kitson, 1992; Masheter, 1991). Research focusing on the co-parental relationship from the noncustodial father's perspective is relatively sparse in the divorce literature. Information about noncustodial fathers is all too often obtained from mothers and may not accurately describe fathers' postdivorce experiences. For example, discrepancies between mothers' and fathers' reports have arisen in the areas of father involvement postdivorce (Ahrons, 1983; Seltzer, 1991; Seltzer & Bianchi, 1988), child support payment (Beller & Graham, 1986; Wright & Price, 1986), and the quality of relations between ex-spouses (Ambert, 1989; Goldsmith, 1981; Spanier & Thompson, 1984). To truly understand the nature and implications of mens' and womens' interdependence postdivorce, inclusion of fathers' perspectives is essential. Both Ahrons (1981) and Clarke-Stewart and Bailey (1990) suggest that men and women are sensitive to different issues in developing postdivorce relationships with their former mates Masheter (1992) also emphasizes the importance of considering both spouses' interpretations of various episodes and discussions in understanding relationship dialectics in postdivorce relationships between ex-spouses. Her use of episode analysis highlighted differences between ex-spouses in interpreting recounted conversations that occurred before and after the divorce. Although we do not have data on both spouses' perceptions, we can at least provide some balance to the literature in this area by analyzing fathers' (vs. mothers') perceptions of their relationships postdivorce. …