Safe Father–Child Contact Postseparation in Situations of Intimate Partner Violence and Positive Fathering Skills: A Literature Review

Abstract

The role of parenting may be challenging and complex for parents who are violent in their relationship and employ poor and negative parenting practices. Synthesizing the knowledge of safe father–child interactions in post–domestic violence incidents and positive fathering skills is the major goal of this review. It also aims to identify the available literature on key factors and conditions around child adjustment following intimate partner violence incidents. In order to achieve these goals, this article applied a narrative style literature review. Electronic databases and websites of children’s social services and domestic violence interventions were searched, and 12 research studies met the criteria for the review. The synthesis of the literature suggests that improving custody workers’ knowledge of intimate partner violence and developing father’s parenting practices during interventions are essential in achieving the safety of father–child interactions. The father’s regular participation in perpetrator interventions and parenting programs can prevent them from continuing to abuse their partners and children during visitations. As a result, an approach that acknowledges the multifaceted factors for safe father–child contact and the multifaceted means of reducing child adjustment problems after parental separation was developed.