ABSTRACT
This chapter sets the information in context by considering more general socio-demographic information on fathers and families and the relevant legal provisions. Researchers and commentators also note that while much is written about fathers and their impact on child development and their role in the family, relatively little research has been done on their influence in families where children are showing signs of disturbance or on fathers who are violent to their partners and/or maltreat their children. The information on fathers contained in the studies has thus been collected from families where there are higher levels of professional concerns about child protection and where one would expect to find high levels of need and complex problems. The chapter provides information about projects that entail working with fathers, in relation to specific issues or generally and some examples for practice. Although some of these projects have been evaluated, they have not been specifically evaluated by the Department of Health.
