The research explores the way in which postseparated parents continue to exert a bidirectional force on each other following divorce and separation. The study draws on qualitative interviews with 39 separated mothers and fathers in Ireland, including five marital sets of former couples. The study found many fathers adopted a range of paternal banking strategies on separation and that these strategies appeared influential on, or in response to, maternal gatekeeping behavior. The article develops the concept of paternal banking by linking it to maternal gatekeeping practices postseparation. The research indicates that an investigation of maternal gatekeeping in the absence of a review of paternal banking practices undermines the nature of parental role battle within the postseparated couple. The article argues that this is especially true when located in a state, like Ireland, where traditional family structures are pervasive.
AdamsonsK. (2010). Using identity theory to develop a midrange model of parental gatekeeping and parenting behavior. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 2, 137-148.
2.
AllenS.HawkinsA. (1999). Maternal gate keeping: Mothers’ beliefs and behaviors that inhibit greater father involvement in family work. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 199-212.
3.
ArendellT. (1997). Divorce and remarriage. In ArendellT. (Ed.), Contemporary parenting: Challenges and issues (pp. 154-195). London, England: SAGE.
4.
BottE. (1972). Family and social network: Roles, norms, and external relationships in ordinary urban families. London, England: Tavistock.
5.
BreenR.CookeL. P. (2005). The persistence of the gendered division of domestic labor. European Sociological Review, 21(1), 43-57.
6.
BurgoyneC. B. (1990). Money in marriage: How patterns of control both reflect and conceal power. Sociological Review, 38, 634-665.
7.
ChoJ.TrentA. (2006). Validity in qualitative research revisited. Qualitative Research, 6, 319-340.
8.
DoucetA. (2006). Do men mother?Toronto, Ontario, Canada: University of Toronto Press.
9.
EmeryR. E.DillionP. (1994). Conceptualizing the divorce process: Renegotiating boundaries of intimacy and power in the divorced family system. Family Relations, 43, 374-379.
10.
FaganJ.BarnettM. (2003). The relationship between maternal gatekeeping, paternal competence, mothers’ attitudes about the father role, and father involvement. Journal of Family Issues, 24, 1020-1043.
11.
FurstenbergF.CherlinA. J. (1991). Divided families: What happens to children when parents part. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
12.
GadallaT. M. (2009). Impact of marital dissolution on men’s and women’s incomes: A longitudinal study. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 50(1), 55-65.
13.
GreifG. (1997). Out of touch: When parents and children lose contact after divorce. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
14.
HetheringtonE.CoxM.CoxR. (1982). Effects of divorce on parents and children. In LambM. (Ed.), Non-traditional families (pp. 233-288). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
15.
HochschildA. (1989). The second shift. New York, NY: Avon Books.
16.
LewisJ.WelshE. (2005). Fathering practices in twenty-six intact families and the implications for child contact. International Journal of Law in Context, 1(1), 81-99.
17.
LinI. F.McLanahanS. S. (2007). Parental beliefs about nonresident fathers’ obligations and rights. Journal of Marriage and Family, 69, 382-398.
18.
LincolnY. S.GubaE. (1985). Naturalistic enquiry. Beverley Hills, CA: SAGE.
19.
MaccobyE.MnookinR. H. (1992). Dividing the child: Social and legal dilemmas of custody. London, England: Harvard University Press.
20.
Madden-DerdichD. A.LeonardS. A.ChristopherF. S. (1999). Boundary Ambiguity and Coparental Conflict After Divorce: An Empirical Test of a Family Systems Model of the Divorce Process. Journal of Marriage and Family, 61(3), 588-598.
21.
MahonE.MooreE. (2011). Post-separation parenting: A study of parent-child contact agreements and arrangements based on attending and observing family law circuit cases. Dublin, Ireland: Office for the Minister of Children.
22.
McGinnityF.RussellH. (2008). Gender inequalities in time use: The distribution of caring, housework and employment among women and men in Ireland. Dublin, Ireland: Equality Authority and Economic Social Research Institute.
23.
McManusP. A.DiPreteT. A. (2001). Losers and winners: The financial consequences of separation and divorce for men. American Sociological Review, 66, 246-268.
24.
NymanC. (1999). Gender equality in the “most equal country in the world”? Money and marriage in Sweden. Sociological Review, 47, 766-793.
25.
PahlJ. (1989). Money and marriage. London, England: Macmillan Education.
26.
PruettM. K.ArthurL. A.EblingR. (2007). The hand that rocks the cradle: Maternal gatekeeping after divorce. Pace Law Review, Paper 559. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawrev/559/
27.
RitchieJ.LewisJ. (2003). Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers. London, England: SAGE.
28.
RitchieJ.SpencerL.O’ConnorW. (2003). Carrying out qualitative analysis. In RitchieJ.LewisJ. (Eds.), Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and research (pp. 219-263). London, England: SAGE.
29.
RussellH.McGinnityF.CallanT.KeaneC. (2009). A woman’s place: Female participation in the Irish labour market. Dublin, Ireland: Economic Social Research Institute.
30.
RoyK. M.DysonO. L. (2005). Gatekeeping in context: Babymama drama and the involvement of incarcerated fathers. Fathering: A Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice about Men as Fathers, 3, 289-310.
31.
SanoY.RichardsL. N.ZvonkovicA. M. (2008). Are mothers really “gatekeepers” of children?Journal of Family Issues, 29, 1701-1723.
32.
Schoppe-SullivanS. J.BrownG. L.CannonE. A.MangelsdorfS. C.SokolowskiM. S. (2008). Maternal gatekeeping, coparenting quality, and fathering behavior in families with infants. Journal of Family Psychology, 22, 389-398.
33.
SeeryB. L.CrowleyM. S. (2000). Women’s emotion work in the family. Journal of Family Issues, 21, 100-128.
SilviaE. B.SmartC. (1999). The “new” practices and politics of family life. In SilviaE. B.SmartC. (Eds.), The new family (pp. 1-12). London, England: SAGE.
36.
SmartC.NealeB. (1999). Family fragments?Cambridge, England: Polity Press.
SpreyJ. (1979) Conflict theory and the study of marriage and the family. In BurrW.HillR.NyeF.ReissI. (Eds.), Contemporary theory about the family (Vol. 2, pp. 130-159). New York, NY: Free Press.
39.
StocksJ.DiazC.HallerodB. (2007). Modern couples sharing money, sharing life. Hampshire, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
40.
StoneG.McKenryP. (1998). Nonresidential father involvement: A test of a mid-range theory. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 159, 313-336.
41.
TrinderL. (2008). Maternal gate closing and gate opening in postdivorce families. Journal of Family Issues, 29, 1298-1324.
42.
WolchikS. A.FenaughtyA. M.BraverS. L. (1996). Residential and non-residential parents’ perspectives on visitation problems. Family Relations, 45, 230-237.
