The most important social research of recent years. Not of course across the world, but for us.
Ben is talking to our AGM/Conference, 4th November, University of Manchester. Make sure you get there.
Almost all published research in ‘our area’ of recent years has been about female (and feminist) views of domestic violence. The suffering, trauma and damage to women and children. With its action implications that they need to be protected. Of course, in all areas there is bias, and even occasionally fraud. The major issue, however, is selectivity. Just one aspect/point of view gets attention. For example, there has been no evidence based or research overview of the contribution of ‘the second parent’ to children for many years*.
And almost nothing, until this, about what the ‘other side’ of the form of bereavement that is contact denial. Still less what the long-term implications of this might be for children.
Warm thanks Ben for partially filling this gap. Its explicitly gender-based research on what it is like to be a father whose children have been prevented from seeing him, and what needs to be done about it. Starting with suicide and ‘suicide ideation’ (jargon for thinking about it). Eleven men kill themselves every day. That means nearly as many per week as kill their partners or ex-partners in a year. How much attention does this get? We hear a lot about mothers being ‘re-traumatised’ in the family courts when her claims of being a victim are questioned. What is it like for bereaved fathers, unrepresented, disorientated and in an alien setting, to be cross examined about foul allegations by a trained and sometimes viciously hostile lawyer? And where – unless they know about us – can they turn to for help?
You will be hearing more about this, we hope.
*There was a brief flurry before the financial collapse of 2007 and the cancellation of Sure Start and related projects to improve the lives of children. One consequence was the last ‘overview’. Featherstone, Brid 2009, Contemporary Fathering, Polity Press. But even that says ‘...the bottom line has to be the location of active fathering within a discussion of what the costs and benefits for women might be’ (p194)
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