Parenting in Fathers Who Have Exposed Their Children to Domestic Violence: Identifying Targets for Change

Abstract

In the aftermath of children’s exposure to domestic violence, professionals are often rightly concerned about the extent and nature of fathers’ ongoing relationships with their children. In addition to considering the extent and impact of fathers’ past abuse, child welfare workers need to make judgments about whether he has become safer and more able to parent his children. We reviewed a range of literatures to identify changes in DV fathers that are predictive of father-child relationships that are free from abuse and predictive of healthy child outcomes. Hostile/over-reactive parenting and difficulties with co-parenting emerged as the most promising targets for change. Fathers’ gender role stress, depression, and substance abuse were also identified as potentially important predictors of better child outcomes. Level of father involvement and father-child emotional closeness showed more complex relations to child safety and well-being and, as such, were not considered promising as general targets for parenting interventions with fathers who have exposed their children to domestic violence.