Family Structures, Paternity and Negligence: Realities to Revisit
Very few studies deal with the father's role in situations of child neglect. The tendency for research to focus on the mother does not allow to adequately capture the role and the attributes of every parent (biological or not, cohabiting or not) who revolves around the child. This study is aimed at describing family structures in situations of substantiated child neglect and at identifying the attributes which characterize them. Using the data collected by the participants as part of the «Étude d'incidence québécoise (ÉIQ)» (Québec Incidence Study), the analysis substantiates individual and family attributes of 1778 neglected children. Results show that family structures whose indication of neglect is judged well-founded by the welfare services differ from those of the general population. Contrary to what most research suggests, the father is present in situations of neglect. The family socio-economic characteristics and the problems encountered by the children and the parents vary according to the family structure. Of all negligent families, single-parent families headed by women are particularly affected by economic and social poverty, especially where the father is absent. The involvement of research and intervention is discussed.