Children and Youth Services Review 34 (2012) 324–325

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Children and Youth Services Review

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Book review

Lynne Harne, Violent fathering and the risks to children: Theneed for change, 2011, The Policy Press, Bristol, UK, 2011,212,ISBN: 978-1-84742-211-8

Over the past decade, the importance of fatherhood and the positiveeffect of the presence of men in the lives of their children has beengreatly legitimized by academic, research, and professional sectors. Vio-lent fathering and the risks to children explores the darker side of fatherinvolvement, cataloguing some of the potentially negative implicationsof paternal involvement for children with violent fathers and offering atimely contribution to the broader fatherhood literature.

Violent fathering and the risks to children contains six chapters map-ping the harmful impacts of violent fathering on children. Utilizingrelevant empirical evidence, historical and current approaches to vio-lence prevention, theoretical explanations, and a discussion of find-ings from original qualitative research, the book builds towardsrecommendations for policy and practice changes required to ensurethe safety and developmental well-being of children. While the au-thor utilizes a child-centered lens for positioning her analysis of vio-lent fathering, she is thoughtful in dove-tailing the oftensimultaneous implications of violent fathering on women and theirrole as mothers. The first three chapters illustrate the impact of vio-lent fathering, with important emphasis on the child's perspective.In these early chapters, by reviewing current research and theorizingabout violent fathers, the author challenges the notion of violent fa-thers being suitable parents and questions current family and childwelfare policies that consider an ongoing relationship between vio-lent fathers and their children to be beneficial. Chapters four andfive are dedicated to examining the author's original research relatedto violent fathers. Specifically, findings of fathers' own violence andits impact on their parenting and relationship with their childrenare explored. The fifth chapter discusses the challenges, and potential,of perpetrator programs used to rehabilitate violent fathers. Finally,the last chapter distills the evidence and information proposedthroughout the book into a set of recommendations for policy changeacross many sectors including law, criminal justice, and child welfare.

Overall, the greatest strength of this book is the breadth of theo-retical, empirical, and practical information covered in a concise man-ner. In just over 200 pages, the author provides clear and convincingevidence of the negative impact and risk posed to children by violentfathers. It allows readers to fully appreciate the current political andcultural climate regarding fatherhood, particularly the unquestionedimportance of violent fathers in the lives of children. Of particularnote are 1) the extensive descriptions of violent fathers and father-hood and 2) the influence of the fatherhood movement on legislationand policy directives. For instance, chapter two is dedicated to illus-trating the evolution and chronology of the concept of fatherhood, in-cluding the role of father's rights groups. Whether a novice or expertin the field of parenting, this analysis provides an opportunity to care-fully consider the influence of historical definitions of fatherhood oncurrent and emerging policy and legislation.

doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.10.024

Also contributing to the strength of this book is the author's orig-inal qualitative study on violent fathers, including detailed methodol-ogy and a copy of the survey instrument. The study provides tangibleexamples of fathers' minimization, denial, suggestions of provocationby mothers, and perceptions of the father–child relationship. Theseresearch findings, in particular the powerful quotes from study par-ticipants, complement and elevate the author's arguments related torisk and harm explored in the beginning chapters. Finally, the inclu-sion of the author's survey measure (the Men's Abuse Checklist),while not psychometrically validated, may be a helpful tool for re-searchers and practitioners interested in compiling a repertoire of re-search and assessment instruments that examine abusive behaviorstowards women and children.

The author creates a clear picture of the scope of the problem inthe UK, namely how the issue of violent fathering should directly in-form child access/exchange, supervision, child welfare and protec-tion, and family law legislation. While certainly an asset to thoseworking in or connected to the UK, the regional specificity of thebook does create limitations in transferring this knowledge, particu-larly policy recommendations, to regions beyond the UK. Granted,the purpose of the book is to articulate the current social landscapein the UK, the author does reference similar circumstances and policydirectives in the US, Canada, and Australia when possible. In fact, theimpact of this problem within a global context is supported by find-ings from a recent Campbell Systematic Review that has raised doubtsabout the effectiveness of court-mandated batterer intervention pro-grams in reducing recidivism among family violence perpetrators(Feder et al., 2008).

For the reasons listed above, this book is a valuable resource onthe topic of violent fathering. However, it may have benefited froma discussion about parenting in general. Just as the notion of father-hood and fathering has evolved over time, so too has the notion ofparenting, particularly the idea of ‘positive parenting’, the ‘goodenough’ parent, single parenting, etc. Examining the changing faceof parenting as a social construct may have provided a counterpointto discussions of violent fathering and its potentially negative conse-quences for children. Specifically, investigating the changing concep-tualization of parenting over time may have offered a compellingrationale to change policy agendas that unilaterally value paternal in-volvement regardless of the presence or impact of violence. Anotherintriguing commentary, given the author's questioning of policy di-rectives that over-estimate the potential parenting value of violent fa-thers, is related to the intersection of poverty and violence in the livesof children. Namely, the economic support fathers potentially provideto children could be contributing to the ongoing discourse related toencouraging and maintaining the father–child relationship. Whilefew progressives would argue about the need to raise children outof poverty, this should not come at the expense of their continued ex-posure to violence. We need to find better ways to stop the violenceor enable women to leave abusive relationships without sacrificingthe economic well-being of their children.

325Book review

Lynne Harne has written a very critical and poignant analysis ofthe consequences of violent fathering in the lives of children. Moreimportantly, she has demonstrated the need for further discourse re-lated to rehabilitative programs, parental assessment, and thepsycho-social needs of children with violent fathers. In conclusion, aquote from the final chapter best describes the contribution of thisbook to the fatherhood literature and future policy directives relatedto paternal involvement: “Expressing a commitment to change …

does not mean that violent fathers will change or will be able tochange enough to be safe with children, even when they attend a per-petrator programme” (p.177). This book would be of considerable in-terest to social work practitioners, researchers, educators, and otherhelping professionals engaged in working with children and families,particularly with fathers.

References

Feder, L.,Wilson, D. B., & Austin, S. (2008). Court-mandated interventions for individuals con-victed of domestic violence. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 12, 1–4610.4073/csr.2008.12.

Jennifer RootUniversity of Toronto, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work,

246 Bloor Street West, Toronto, CanadaTel.: +1 905 209 8555; fax: +1 416 978 7072.

E-mail address:jenn.root@utoronto.ca.