ABSTRACT
Father absence has drawn the attention of social policy analysts, welfare experts, mental health professionals, politicians, and the media. This chapter describes one subset of father-absent families—those in which the father does not have contact with his children following a divorce—and to provide potential interventions for working with this "out of touch" father, his children, and the mother. The issues that the divorced father presents are different in many ways from those presented by the never-married father, who often is less emotionally or financially involved with his children. Interparental conflict is often fueled by unresolved feelings that divorced parents have for each other. Disagreements about parenting are common even in the strongest marriages. Interventions in Structural Family Therapy are geared toward putting a parental hierarchy in place and building boundaries that allow for the growth and development of family members.
