Deadbeat dads subjectivity and social construction

Summary: "The 'deadbeat dad' is a common topic in today's news media. As an experienced social worker, family therapist, and mediator, Deena Mandell is familiar not only with popular, legal, and institutional discourses on the subject, but also with the lived reality of those involved in support conflict. In 'Deadbeat Dads,' she addresses the reasons for the failure of child support enforcement." "Non-payment of child support is often seen as an individual act of defiance or a moral failing, or it is interpreted only in terms of its economic ill effects. These perceptions can actually reinforce resistance and disengagement on the part of fathers, by causing them to see themselves as victims whose personal rights are under threat. And all too often, as this study shows, in the struggle between the state's protection of its financial interests and the fathers' focus on their personal rights, the needs of children disappear." "Mandell constructs a sophisticated argument around findings from interviews with separated fathers, augmented with the perspectives of enforcement personnel such as judges, mediators, and lawyers, and with first-hand observation of courtroom discussions. This is a qualitative study that lets informants speak for themselves but also subjects the resulting insights to critical analysis."--BOOK JACKET.

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