Who are these parents involved in child neglect? A differential analysis by parent gender and family structure

Abstract

Studies about fathers and child neglect are scarce. Current research, which tends to focus on mothers, does not allow to fully understand the influence of all parental figures on child protection. This research aims to compare socio-demographic characteristics and personal problems of mothers to those of fathers in 1266 neglecting families. The data, from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect — 2003, was collected by workers in a representative sample of 63 child welfare service areas. The findings suggest that parental situations vary greatly according to gender and family structures. Mothers (biological and surrogates) face more issues than fathers (biological and surrogates). For example, they face more mental health issues. Biological mothers are in worse position than surrogate mothers but, inversely, surrogate fathers are in worse position than biological fathers. Parental characteristics and problems also differ according to family structures but the way those issues affect mothers could explain most of those differences. Overall, single female-headed families seem particularly vulnerable and fathers present better socio-demographic characteristics and struggle with less personal problems than mothers. Implications for research and action with mothers and fathers will be discussed.