Nonresidential Parenting : New Vistas in Family Living

As ever-increasing numbers of children live apart from their parents, how can policymakers and professionals who work with families address the emotional and financial needs of such children? The editors draw on research, policy and practice sources in order to identify a rich array of roles that nonresidential parents may play in the lives of their children. They also explore such issues as: variation in nonresidential parenting across ethnic groups; the financial implications of parenting separately; patterns of involvement of nonresidential parents; and implications for further research and social policy.

With burgeoning numbers of nonresidential parents, how can policymakers and professionals who work with families address the emotional and financial needs of children who do not live with both parents? What resources exist for developing parenting agreements between mothers and fathers who live apart? What should be done when a child refuses to visit the nonresidential parent? What effect does a parent′s remarriage have on children? A distinguished roster of scholars addresses these questions by drawing from research, policy, and practice sources to identify the rich array of roles that nonresidential parents may play in the lives of their children. Taking a multidimensional approach that views the family as an entity that changes over time, they also explore such issues as variation in nonresidential parenting across ethnic groups, financial implications of parenting apart, patterns of involvement of nonresidential parents, and children′s adjustment to remarriage. Included in each chapter are implications for further research and social policy. This important volume concludes with a chapter that offers new directions for multidimensional approaches to research, policy and practice. Nonresidential Parenting will make compelling reading for researchers, practitioners, and students who work with or study families. "Depner and Bray′s collection is especially useful in elaborating its principal contention that a ′monolithic vision of non-residential parenting is a poor basis for policy.′....the book is a competent reflection upon research in the United States." --British Journal of Social work "Consistent with its multidisciplinary approach and its focus on research and application, the book is very readable. It is unique in the ease with which it integrates research, theory, and practice. Yet the text represents a very scholarly approach to the study of these families and related interventions. Major empirical and applied scholarship from a variety of disciplines has been drawn upon to support the book′s conclusions and recommendations. This book will be an invaluable resource." --Family Relations