THE STATUS OF MEN
IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
FIRST BIENNIAL REPORT
OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE COMMISSION
ON THE STATUS OF MEN
http://www.nh.gov/csm/
NOVEMBER 1, 2005
1
CHARTER
The General Court recognizes that men are an important resource for families and
children, and wishes to explore the causes and consequences of a variety of social, economic, and
health problems facing men, and to have recommendations for relief made available to the public.
Specifically, the General Court recognizes that fatherlessness is a severe social problem and that
New Hampshire children who have a poor or nonexistent
relationship with their father are the
largest users of a variety of statefunded
services. In addition, men whose average life expectancy
was formerly on a par with that of women are now dying 10 years sooner, with much higher rates
of suicide and mortality from the 15 leading causes of diseases and accidents. Educationally, the
General Court recognizes the need to address the relatively poor performance of boys in the areas
of reading and comprehension and to increase the grade passage rate for boys while encouraging
the pursuit of postsecondary
degrees. The New Hampshire Commission on the Status of Men
was therefore created by the legislature to address and reverse the deteriorating status of men and
boys in New Hampshire.
The Commission was enabled by passage of HB587FNA
(Chapter 267:2, Laws of 2002,
effective July, 1, 2002).
Membership consists of seven members appointed by the Governor:
·
Joseph H. Mastromarino, MD, Chair·
Scott A. Garman, Secretary·
Alfred Lerandeau·
Marshall D. Hickok·
Stephen H. Gorin·
Michael J. Geanoulis·
Larry Colby, Treasurer (resigned, May 2005. No replacement has been appointed as ofthe date of this report, 1 November 2005
)Duties of the Commission shall include but not be limited to:
·
Examining issues and effects of cultural biases and stereotyping, beginning withchildhood experiences and programs in public schools, and extending to include a study
of male suicide and adult concerns such as family relations, promoting education and
policies which bring fathers and children closer together.
·
Studying health problems unique to men or which predominately affect men, and makingappropriate recommendations.
·
Promoting initiatives and programs that will enable men to develop career skills andcontinue their education so that they may become productive and responsible citizens.
The Commission, with this report, meets the legislative requirement to report its activities,
findings, and recommendations for the general court and the administration pursuant to Chapter
19I,
on or before November 1, 2005.
2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF MEN wishes to
recognize the cooperation and expertise of the many specialists and state agencies who
contributed to the substance of this report. Without their cooperation and assistance, this report
would not have been possible.
Ann Larney, Office of the NH Attorney General
Thom Linehan, UNH Extension Services, Family Education
Chuck Rhoades, author of "A Study of Men and Their Health"
Rep. David A. Bickford
Gerard J. Boyle, former Chair of the Commission on the Status of Men
Lee Newman, Executive Director, SAFENH
Linda Sheldon, NH State Office of Information Technology
Dr. Murray A. Straus, PhD, CoDirector,
Family Research Lab, UNH
Tom Andrew, MD, Chief Medical Examiner, State of New Hampshire
The Department of Education
The Department of Health & Human Services
Office of Child Support Enforcement
Bureau of Health Statistics and Data Management
Youth Detention Center
The National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI)
The New Hampshire State Library
The UphamWalker
House
We are deeply grateful to the members of the public who took valuable time away from
their personal obligations in order to bring us a better sense of the problems described herein.
We are especially indebted to our spouses, loved ones, families, and friends for their
tolerance, support, suggestions, and advocacy during this period.
3
Table
of Contents Page
Introduction and Overview 5
History 6
Men's Health 7
Table A: Suicide Rates by Age and Gender 9
Fatherhood Issues 10
Public Comments 10
The Status of Fathers 10
The Importance of Fathers 11
Domestic Violence 13
Child Support 17
The Task Force on Family Law 19
Minority Expression 20
Paternity Fraud and Certificates of Birth 22
Education 23
Early Childhood Education 23
Reading Scores 24
NH Grade 4 NAEP Reading Scores, 2005 24
NH Grade 8 NAEP Reading Scores, 2005 25
Mathematics Scores 25
NH Grade 4 NAEP Mathematics Scores, 2005 25
NH Grade 8 NAEP Mathematics Scores, 2005 26
Teachers 26
Secondary Education 27
Postsecondary Education 27
UNH, Durham Graduate
Students by Sex, 19992005
28
UNH, Durham Undergraduate
Students by Sex, 19992005
29
UNH, Durham Associate
Degree Students by Sex, 19992005
30
Education Conclusions 31
Summary of Recommendations 31
Appendix A 34
Summary Abstracts of Articles from the Fall 2005 issue of
The Psychology of WomenAppendix B 38
Appendix C 40
Appendix D 41
Bibliography 43
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INTRODUCTION
AND OVERVIEW
There are those who contend that men continue to enjoy marked advantages, and always
have benefited from the initial patriarchal construction of western society. However, the
predominant role of financial provider to the family, coupled with shifting demands of society,
evolved to require that on average, men spend a significantly increasing amount of time in work
activities (as compared to women in similar "fulltime"
jobs), and that they engage in
considerably more demanding and dangerous career choices. Men respond as "doers" both as a
result of societal conditioning and neurobiologic differences and tend to pursue their goals
without the significant processing, forethought, discussion, and counseling than women tend to
engage in. For better or worse, men have come to value tenaciousness of intent and singularity of
purpose as opposed to the measured decision by consensus that women more frequently
subscribe to. To imply that these multiple negative male outcomes are genderspecific
denies the
profound effect they have on our wives, our daughters, and society, both locally and globally.
That men would need help by way of a chartered Commission to improve their status
seemed counterintuitive given the popular image of men as independent, selfsufficient
survivors, able to overcome the most difficult of life's challenges on their own. Modern pressures,
however, find men and their families experiencing significant difficulties due to evolving values,
health problems, growing educational deficiencies, and new socioeconomic
family standards.
This report calls attention to serious problems in the lives of New Hampshire men and boys that,
prior to the establishment of this Commission, were "off of the radar screen" in terms of their
negative impact on society.
·
Boys continue to have inferior reading and comprehension scores and lower graduationrates. Men are much less likely to pursue secondary degrees and university graduate
programs.
·
The suicide rates for boys, young fathers, and older men range from four to ten timeshigher than that of women, depending on such factors as age, marital status, and
emotional wellbeing.
The general health of men is seen as in a serious crisis according to
Dr. William Pollack of the Harvard Medical School Center for Men.
·
Men, for a variety of reasons, continue to have problems keeping up with courtorderedchild support payments in spite of, or possibly because of, wellintentioned
federal
mandates designed to improved family wellness.
·
Fatherlessness, according to growing numbers of social thinkers, is among our mostserious social problems. Fatherless children have a higher dependency on expensive statefunded
services such as welfare, DCYF/Foster Care programs, child support enforcement,
special education services, detention centers, etc. There appears to be a strong link
between father absence and a wide variety of pathologies, including juvenile delinquency,
substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and educational failure. Children having a poor or nonexistent
relationship with their natural father have lower wellness levels in the areas of
safety, health, education, and economic security.
·
Men are often portrayed as the primary cause of domestic violence. However, the researchreveals this problem as more complex than is commonly thought, and the subject will be
5
treated
in detail in this report.
·
For the reader's convenience, the Commission's recommendations will appear in boldface
throughout the body of this report and the Summary of Recommendations sectionon page 33.
Commissioner Stephen Gorin would like it known that although he shares authorship of this
document, he does not necessarily agree with some portions of the sections of this report dealing
with Fatherhood Issues, Child Support, and Domestic Violence.
HISTORY
In 1998, House Bill 1377 was first introduced to the New Hampshire Legislature, asking
for the establishment of a full Commission on the Status of Men (CSM). It failed to gain the
approval of the House Finance Committee. The following year, the effort was repeated under
House Bill 553. After a detailed inspection of preliminary evidence, including burgeoning male
mortality, suicide, educational failure, and fatherless rates, the House was moved to share the
sense of urgency of the bill’s sponsor, Representative David Bickford, and recommended passage
on June 23, 1999 by a vote of 210 to 76.
The Senate Executive Departments Committee then amended the bill. In the ensuing
House/Senate committee of conference convened to iron out differences, it was agreed to create a
Legislative Committee to Study the Status of Men (LCSSM) to review these alleged problems in
further detail, make recommendations as necessary, and come back to the Legislature by
February 15, 2001 with a full report. The bill passed the Legislature in this form and was signed
into law by the Governor in June, 2000.
The duties of the LCSSM were threefold: To examine, study, and promote, as explained in
the duties requirements of HB 553. The LCSSM noted with some alarm the rapidly deteriorating
status of men in New Hampshire. This deterioration begins with the increasing rates of
fatherlessness, includes marked and accelerating trends of subpar
reading scores, dropout rates,
higher crime and incarceration rates, lower graduation rates, lower rates of enrollment in
secondary and graduate degree programs, and progresses through the second highest child
support rate in the nation, perceived negative disparities in the Family Court system, and
perceived use of false or exaggerated claims of domestic violence in divorce cases to deprive men
of their families, homes, and possessions without appropriate due process, lack of a legislative
presence due to gross inequities of funding compared to women's programs, and culminates in
significantly fewer programs geared towards preventive health services for men, a paucity of
support groups for men in general, relative underfunding
of health issues which affect primarily
men, markedly higher suicide rates than women, and ultimately resulting in mortality rates that
are higher than those of women beginning at birth and ending with a life span that is significantly
less than women in New Hampshire.
Due to the overwhelming nature of the problems uncovered, the LCSSM could do little by
6
way
of “promotion” or “prevention” because of time and resource constraints. The LCSSM could
not, for example, explore causes and prevention for the heartbreak of suicide; nor could it
promote higher levels of father involvement with their children or improve the education deficit
of boys. Furthermore, many items on the list of topics the LCSSM hoped to examine were not
readily available and recommended establishing a Commission on the Status of Men (CSM) to
promote initiatives, programs, and further study.
Early in 2001, Representative David Bickford filed HB587FNA
for the purpose of
establishing a commission on the status of men (CSM) and appropriating $69,561 to facilitate its
duties. After passing the House, the Senate amended the bill months later by stripping its
funding. HB587 and the unfunded Commission on the Status of Men became effective the
following year on July 1, 2002.
Because of many delays in the membership nominations process, the Commission on the
Status of Men was not able to hold its first meeting until October 31, 2003, over a year after it
became effective under the law. In addition, the ability of the CSM to perform its prescribed
duties pursuant to RSA19I:
4 is considerably compromised by lack of funding.
To facilitate the promotion of programs and to treat the problems described in this report,
this Commission needs to be funded as originally intended under HB587 (2001).
ThisCommission, therefore, recommends that the state provide adequate funding to finance an
Executive Director, support personnel, office, supplies, telephone, computer and other
office equipment.
MEN'S HEALTH
RSA 19I
charges the Commission on the Status of Men with "[s]tudying health problems
unique to men or which predominantly affect men, and making appropriate recommendations."
The Commission has taken tentative steps to address these issues. Members of the Commission
have met with a representative of the Men's Health Network (
http://www.menshealthnetwork.org)and distributed some of the Network's literature. We expect to focus further on health issues
during the next year.
Health issues remain a central concern for men in New Hampshire. In a study of New
Hampshire men, Rhoades (2000) noted that due to gender roles, (i.e. "the attitudes, behaviors and
expectations that American culture assigns to males and females") many men find it difficult to
acknowledge their own vulnerability and lack of knowledge and seek needed health care. A 2002
report by the Endowment for Health on "social and cultural barriers to accessing health and
health care in New Hampshire" noted:
Mortality rates from all causes (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, injuries, suicide etc.) are
significantly higher for men than women. A number of studies document a disparity
between men and women's health status and health seeking behaviors. According to one
7
study,
70% of the uninsured men surveyed did not have a regular physician. Minority
men are most likely to be uninsured and are at the highest risk. The study indicates that
health care providers are missing opportunities to incorporate preventive care and
anticipatory guidance in the illness or injury related visits most common among men.
Additionally, screenings for prostate and colorectal cancers are not as well subsidized or
funded as breast and cervical cancer screening for women. Other gender considerations
include depression and suicidal ideation related to gender identification (especially in
adolescents) and the issues of domestic and sexual violence.
(http://www.endowmentforhealth.org/theme_social/resources_view.asp?K=4&T=P&R=
M).
These issues are compounded by the reality that many men in New Hampshire do not
have health insurance. In 20023,
12% of nonelderly
New Hampshire men had no health
insurance (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005). Studies show that the health of individuals without
insurance "is worse than it would otherwise be if they were insured" and "providing health
insurance to uninsured adults would result in improved health, including greater life expectancy"
(IOM, 2002, p. 5).
Nationwide, approximately 9% more men will develop prostate cancer in 2005 than
women will develop breast cancer. However, according to estimates by the American Cancer
Society 2005 Surveillance Research (
http://www.pccnc.org/CAFF2005f4PWsecured.pdf), thispercentage of men in New Hampshire will be markedly increased to 29%, or over three times the
national average! According to these projections for 2005, 890 women will be diagnosed in New
Hampshire with breast cancer, whereas 1,150 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. New
Hampshire is not alone in its lack of commitment or action: The federal government spends
approximately seven times more on breast cancer research than on prostate cancer research ($550
million versus $80 million, in 1996 there was $12,000 in research dollars spent for each death
from breast cancer versus $2,000 in research dollars for each death from prostate cancer
www.prostateaction.org/resources
). The causes of this disparity are manifold, but certainly NewHampshire lags at executive and legislative initiatives to guarantee that insurers provide coverage,
and that the state provide programs for those men who are uninsured, for the appropriate
screening tests for prostate cancer similar to the longmandated
coverage and programs
specifically to screen for breast and other cancers that affect primarily women. In fact, the huge
disparity may reflect the effectiveness of these early detection and screening programs for breast
cancer which have been put in place by state government. This glaringly underlines the failure to
make a similar investment in men’s health. When the few bills attempting to correct the situation
in New Hampshire have been defeated by the (predominantly male) legislature, the causes of the
failure of that legislation are unclear, but the results are anything but: Men are suffering and
dying needlessly in New Hampshire due to the inaction of good people who apparently have been
led to believe that legislative activity designed to primarily benefit men is somehow not
appropriate politically, financially, or otherwise. Every preventable death, male or female,
lessens us as a society by virtue of our preceding lack of leadership, vision, commitment, and
action.
The Commission recommends that the State of New Hampshire take steps to reducethe disparity between the investment in women’s health issues and men’s health issues, and
8
to
design programs concentrating on addressing in a genderneutral
manner those
conditions and diseases with the highest incidence and the highest rates of morbidity and
mortality.
Men in New Hampshire continue to kill themselves at much higher rates than their female
counterparts. With a relatively small statewide population, it is difficult to document specific
trends with accurate statistical significance. From a statistical standpoint, such small numbers
skew widely the death rate for suicide. In 2001, the death rate of suicide in New Hampshire
resulted in a ranking of number 17 of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, whereas in
2002, the difference of 35 deaths from suicide caused the ranking to drop to number 39. This
year may result in a smaller number of overall deaths from suicide in New Hampshire if the trend
through midOctober
continues (data from Dr Tom Andrew, Chief Medical Examiner). However,
85% of these deaths were male, a higher percentage than the national ratio of male suicides to
overall suicides. The causes of the higher suicide rate for males are numerous, complex, and
interdependent.
The Commission recommends that the State of New Hampshire providefurther directed study and proactive intervention programs, including educational
programs at the elementary school level directed at bolstering the selfesteem
of boys and
helping them develop increased coping skills and new approaches to personal and
interpersonal conflict, coupled with increased prevention programs directed at those
segments of our society most likely to succeed in committing suicide.
Table A: Suicide in New Hampshire by Gender and Age, 20022005
2002 2002 2003 2003 2004 2004 2005 2005
to date to date
AGE GROUP FEMALE MALE FEMALE MALE FEMALE MALE FEMALE MALE
10 20
3 13 2 8 4 6 0 4
21 25
1 9 3 9 1 8 1 3
26 30
2 8 0 8 1 9 0 4
31 35
1 11 4 10 2 8 1 3
36 40
3 13 6 12 4 9 2 5
41 45
6 12 4 12 6 10 1 5
46 50
1 14 3 14 3 16 2 7
51 55
3 11 2 15 1 9 1 6
56 60
1 7 2 14 7 7 1 6
61 65
0 6 3 7 0 8 0 3
66 70
2 4 2 4 1 4 1 4
71 75
1 2 1 1 0 1 0 3
76 80
0 6 0 5 1 2 1 3
81 85
0 2 0 5 1 2 0 2
86 90
0 1 0 4 0 3 0 2
91 95
0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1
24 119 32 128 32 105 11 61
Total for the Year 143 160 137 72 to date
% Male Victims 83.20% 80.50% 76.60% 84.70%
9
FATHERHOOD
ISSUES
Public Comments
The CSM meetings were open to the public for comment and discussion. Early on, fathers
came forward to complain about abnormal relationships with their children and unfair treatment
in family court. Many complained about child support guidelines that seemed inflated and did
not allow them to live on their remaining income; lawyers who seemed uncaring; perceptions that
lawyers were not effectively fighting for them; an inability to get redress for emotional and
physical abuse inflicted on them and their children; misleading and inaccurate testimony being
brought to the legislature by professional court advocates who had no regard for the importance
of the father/child relationship; being made to feel like a criminal in the courtroom; judges
avoiding or ignoring the negative impact of father absence on children; the need for men's
support groups and counseling for men; perjury and false accusations being used as weapons to
render fathers impotent in court; the manufacture of acrimony to secure custody; Guardian ad
Litems who don't care about the father/child connection; the process of divorce being used as a
moneymaking
proposition (money going to lawyers and other members of the "divorce industry"
that could have been used, instead, for the welfare of the children); the permanent nature of
"temporary" orders; the misleading and inaccurate perception that domestic violence is primarily
a male responsibility; insufficient services for male victims of domestic violence; and feelings of
suicide as the ultimate solution.
Second wives, mothers, grandmothers, teachers, and girlfriends came forward to validate
many of the complaints being brought by men. One second wife reported levels of stress so
severe that both she and her disenfranchised husband were forced into the welfare system. A
school nurse told us that most of the children to which she administers medication like Ritalin
and Prozac come from homes where the connection with one of the parents (usually the father)
was compromised.
The Status of Fathers
As women have had difficulty establishing their role as important contributors to the
workplace, men have had difficulty establishing themselves as important nurturers for their
families and children. While the status of fathers and fatherless rates in New Hampshire are
difficult to quantify, this Commission finds little reason to hope that the problem is much
improved over what it was in 2001, when the Legislative Committee to Study the Status of Men
(LCSSM) discovered that the U.S. is the world's leader in fatherless families. Nationally, 40% or
about 24 million children go
to bed in homes absent their biological father on any given
night (with the possible exception of every other weekend) according to the latest available data.
(
http://www.nh.gov/csm/publications.html)The fatherless problem, along with its link to the pathology of dysfunctional and
disadvantaged children, seems as an invisible elephant in the room. There seems to be
10
widespread
casual regard to the notion that caring and involved fathers are ordinarily beneficial
for the safety, health, economic security, education, and overall wellness of children.
In some places, fathers are even billed as villains to be avoided. In a public lecture entitled
"Sexually Abusive Fathers," the University of New Hampshire's Family Research Lab (FRL)
once produced a rightful attempt to get relief from the sexual abuse of children. However, it was
noted by the speaker during the presentation that stepfathers or livein
boyfriends are six times
more likely than natural fathers to commit such heinous acts. Children are typically best
protected from sexual abuse, not by a father's absence, but by his presence. (David Blankenhorn,
Fatherless America
, New York, Basic Books, 1995; See also the Father Facts Booklet availablefrom
http://www.fatherhood.org; and the Garbage Generation by Dan Amneus athttp://www.mugu.com
)On May 19, 2005, Judge Edwin Kelly told the Child and Family Law Committee that sole
custody rates for fathers are holding steady at about 10% for uncontested cases (15% for
contested cases), while mother's custody rates hovered around 66% for uncontested cases (75%
for contested cases). The balance, 24% and 10% respectively, were awarded joint custody.
(
http://www.nhcustody.org/NH_custody_statistics.htm) This may reflect a mindset that saysfathers should be restricted to the breadwinner role while mothers should be restricted to the
caretaking role.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, women are projected to comprise 47 percent
of the total labor force in 2012 (as they did in 2003). There were 64.7 million employed women
in the U.S. in 2004. Seventyfour
percent worked full time, while the remaining 26 percent
worked part time. (
http://www.dol.gov/wb/stats/main.htm) Given the plethora of evidencedocumenting the benefits of involved fathers with their children, and the present rate of female
participation in the workforce, the custody imbalance between fathers and mothers seems
difficult to justify.
This commission suggests that the Governor of New Hampshire issue aproclamation declaring that both parents are equally important for their children.
The Importance of Fathers
Studies have conclusively shown that children who receive higher levels of attention and
interaction with their natural fathers are healthier and better psychologically adjusted than
children without fathers or with uninvolved fathers. Whether the outcome is cognitive
development, sexrole
development, or psychosocial
development, children are better off when
their relationship with their father is close and secure. (Lamb, M.E.
The Father's Role: AppliedPerspectives
. New York: J. Wiley, 1986)Fathers who were affectionate, spent time with their children, and had a positive attitude
were more likely to have securely attached infants. (Cox, M.J., et.al.
Prediction of InfantFatherand InfantMother
Attachment
. Developmental Psychology 28 (1992): 474483.)Children with involved fathers are more confident and less anxious when placed in
11
unfamiliar
settings, better able to deal with frustration, better able to adapt to changing
circumstances and breaks from their routine, and better able to gain a sense of independence and
an identity outside the mother/child relationship. Fatherchild
interaction has been shown to
promote a child's physical wellbeing,
perceptual abilities, and competency for relatedness with
others, even at a young age. (Krampe and Fairweather.
Journal of Family Issues 14.4, December1993: 572591)
Children whose fathers were highly involved in their schools were more likely to do well
academically, to participate in extracurricular activities, and to enjoy school, and were less likely
to have ever repeated a grade or been expelled compared to children whose fathers were less
involved in these schools. This effect held for both twoparent
and singleparent
households, and
was distinct and independent from the effect of mother involvement. (Source: Nord, Christine
Windquist.
Students Do Better When Their Fathers Are Involved At School NCES 98121.Washington, D.C.: US DOE, National Center for Education Statistics, 1998)
Father involvement correlates with fewer behavior problems exhibited by their children.
This finding holds after controlling for the level of maternal involvement. (Amato and Rivera.
Paternal Involvement and Children's Behavior Problems
. Journal of Marriage and the Family 61(1999):375384)
Fatherless children score lower on tests and have lower grade point averages. Family
scholar Barbara Dafoe Whitehead says, "Even after controlling for race, income and religion,
scholars find significant differences in educational attainment between children who grow up in
intact families and children who do not." Fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of
school. (US Health & Human Services. National Center for Health Statistics.
Survey on ChildHealth
. Washington, DC: GPO, 1993)In a study of 75 toddlers it was found that children who were attached to their fathers were
better problemsolvers
than children who were not securely attached to their fathers. Children
whose fathers spent a lot of time with them and who were sensitive to their needs were found to
be better adapted than their peers whose fathers were not as involved. (Esterbrooks, M. Ann and
Wendy Goldberg.
Toddler Development in the Family: Impact of Father Involvement andParenting Characteristics
. Child Development 55 (1984): 740752)On the 25th of October, 2005, we were informed that of the 80 dysfunctional youths
incarcerated at the New Hampshire Youth Development Center, 63 (or 79%) came from homes
absent their biological father.
It would be impossible to give a complete accounting of the importance of caring fathers
for children with this report. The serious student is simply encouraged to type "The Importance
of Fathers" in any internet search engine. (See also the fourth edition of the
Father Facts Bookletavailable at
http://www.fatherhood.org; and the LCSSM report athttp://www.nh.gov/csm/publications.html
)12
Researchers
have discovered an undeniable connection between fatherlessness and a wide
variety of pathological disadvantages accruing to children, yet modern court decrees, social
policy, and even fathers themselves, reflect mindsets and attitudes that serve to disconnect natural
fathers from their children.
This commission recommends that research on the father's rolein child development, some of which is listed in the bibliography herewith, be given the
widest possible publicity and attention.
This commission should be funded to enable the production of Public Service
Announcements and brochures designed to promote education and policies which would
bring fathers and children closer together pursuant to RSA 19I:
4."
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Men came forward during our public meetings to allege unfair treatment in family court
domestic violence proceedings, and to allege that unsubstantiated charges of domestic violence
were being improperly used as tools to place them at a distinct disadvantage in civil matters
before family court. This, and other testimony, led us to investigate the problem of domestic
violence (DV) in greater detail.
A Marital Master explained to the Task Force on Family Law that the word on the street
was that a woman can readily gain immediate possession of the children, home and other assets
by filing an "emergency" exparte
domestic violence petition, claiming to be in fear of her safety.
The accused may then have an immediate restraining order placed against him on a "temporary"
basis even though he may not have been given an immediate opportunity to be heard in his
defense. This procedure, commonly referred to as the "silver bullet" because of its efficiency and
effectiveness, is difficult to challenge and may represent a loophole in the family court system
that is being exploited. Temporary orders, it seems, have a way of evolving into permanency
because of the difficulty in proving perjury or one's own innocence, especially in those 50% of
cases where the parties are mutual contributors to the problem; and because of crowded dockets,
time and costs involved.
According to the NH Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence, New Hampshire
has seen anywhere from 4 to 7 thousand petitions for DV relief annually in recent years the
vast
majority being filed against men. It is not unusual, since judges are prone to err on the side of
caution, for DV exparte
petitions to be granted immediately on the justification that an
"emergency" exists. Court statistics on domestic violence have proved to be difficult to obtain,
but one report from the Administration Office of the Courts, a 1999 study funded by the State
Justice Institute, indicates that an overwhelming majority of such petitions are granted. In the
Salem and Littleton jurisdictions, 98% and 100% of exparte
DV petitions for restraint of the
defendant were immediately granted in 1999, according to the report. These orders are often
issued in the absence of the accused having an immediate opportunity to be heard in his defense.
13
In
an effort to better understand the domestic violence problem, this commission invited
Dr. Murray Straus, PhD, DV expert and cofounder
of the Family Research Lab at the University
of New Hampshire to speak to us. In brief, Dr. Straus told both the Men's Commission and the
Task Force on Family Law (TFFL) that most domestic violence education and advocate training
programs have unfairly referred to the perpetrator as "him" and the victim as "her" over the years,
which constitutes a gender bias. Much of the education and dialogue, furthermore, has
inappropriately discounted, dismissed, or denied the estimated onethird
to onehalf
of all
domestic violence victims who are male. Such stereotyping has had a negative impact on men's
status with their families, and devalues the problem of abused men and children. Dr. Straus
further indicated that female aggression rates equal
to or exceeding that of men should
be
treated equally serious if only as a matter of safety for women, and that men stay in abusive
relationships for many of the same reasons claimed by women. His presentation can be accessed
at
http://www.nh.gov/csm/dv_straus.html. See also Professor Fiebert's collection of DV researchabstracts at
http://www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm.Efforts to get relief from the domestic violence problem have been unduly influenced by
special interests who have successfully sold the problem as solely a responsibility of males over
the years. The whole truth on this emotionallycharged
dichotomy isn't being fully revealed. It's
as if it didn't matter that there are male victims; and worse, that only males should be seen as
aggressive because female assaults are not viewed as a problem. That in any case, only women
shall get relief. The federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) provides one such example of
gender exclusiveness. As its title indicates, only women shall benefit from government
intervention. No one was allowed to testify on behalf of male victims at any legislative hearing
on VAWA enactment or renewal proceedings, so powerful is this bias against men.
Onesided
reporting comes in many forms and can have longlasting
effects. As long ago
as 1981, Straus, Gelles, and Steinmetz reported that 1.8 million women
and 2.0 million men wereassaulted by their partner. From that data, halftruths
evolved like the one that appears on the
website of the American Judges Association: "Every 15 seconds a woman is battered somewhere
in the United States." (
http://aja.ncsc.dni.us/domviol/page2.html) Nothing is ever published aboutthe "real surprise" (to quote the researchers); the even shorter time span (14 seconds) between
assaults by women on their partners, or the equal number of closed doors hiding the other half of
the story. (Straus, Gelles and Steinmetz,
Behind Closed Doors: Violence in the American Family,Anchor Books, 1981)
Judges and criminal justice professionals, who ordinarily can be trusted to be impartial
and unbiased arbiters of the truth, can be unwitting accomplices in the dissemination of DV halftruths
and exaggerations. In the annual report of the NH Domestic Violence Fatality Review
Committee (DVFRC), for example, the DV problem is introduced in the overview with the
statement: "between three and four million women are beaten by their husbands every year." Men
were likewise implicated in the abuse and murder of children. Yet there are no references about
the number of men or children assaulted or murdered by intimates in their overview. The DVFRC
is chaired and administered by judges, criminal justice professionals, and others, who should be
aware of the entire set of facts on such matters. A U.S. DOJ report, "Murder in Families," states
14
that
women were over half of the defendants (55%) in the murder of their offspring; and a "2003
Child Maltreatment" report showed that a child is
twice as likely to be abused by its mother thanby its father: 40.8% of child abuse victims in 2003 were abused by mothers acting alone, while
18.8% of victims were abused by fathers acting alone.
(
http://www.nhcustody.org/My_Homepage_Files/child_maltreatment.html andhttp://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/mif.htm
)An organization called RADAR (Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting) has
identified 12 serious flaws with present domestic violence policy:
·
Abuses the truth. A recent VAWAfundedreport documented that 1.5% of women and
0.9% of men were physically or sexually assaulted by a partner in the previous year. The
report further notes that onefifth
of these men as
well as twofifths
of the women were
injured as a result of the assault. (
Extent, Nature, and Consequences of IntimatePartner Violence
, http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/181867.pdf , p. iiiiv)·
Blatantly discriminates against men. Most DV programs violate men’s constitutional rightto equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. None of the billions of VAWA
dollars have been spent to help male victims of DV. Lee Newman, executive director of
SAFENH,
an experienced New Hampshire organization that provides services for DV
victims regardless of gender, and who outreaches to male victims, receives an estimated
12% of New Hampshire's crisis calls, but does not receive any state or federal funding.
·
Takes children away from their fathers. VAWA laws and the courts unwittingly encouragewomen to make questionable allegations of domestic violence on an "emergency" basis
while petitioning for divorce and custody of the children. In New Hampshire, a father
who has ever had a restraining order filed against him can easily be rendered ineligible for
shared parenting duties and responsibilities of his children. In written testimony to the
Child and Family Law Committee for HB351 (2003) hearings, a Marital Master states, in
part: "Unfortunately, requests for exparte
relief are based upon many circumstances,
some of which are made only for the purpose of obtaining an advantage in litigation."
·
Blurs the distinction between violent crime and verbal arguments. The National ResearchCouncil notes that "Rigorous inquiry into violence against women is precluded when
scholars fail to distinguish among what constitutes an act of violence, abuse, or
battering." (
Advancing the Federal Research Agenda on Violence Against Women,http://books.nap.edu/catalog/10849.html
, p. 26)·
Allows uncritical use of restraining orders. Judges will typically issue restraining ordersbased only on the word of the alleged victim, without allowing the accused an immediate
opportunity to present his or her side of the argument. And many state laws define
"violence" so broadly as to allow restraining orders to be issued on the flimsiest pretext.
In New Hampshire, the standard of evidence is "Upon a showing of immediate and
present danger of abuse,..." [RSA 173B:
4]. One judge told the Task Force on Family Law
(TFFL) that he was confident he could discern the truth at exparte
hearings in the
defendant's absence by the demeanor of the plaintiff and that he was well educated on the
problem of domestic violence. An attending prosecuting attorney, moreover, responded to
a question about the NH Constitution, [Article 15, which provides that "No subject shall
15
be
held to answer for any crime or offense until the same is formally described to
him...and to be fully heard in his defense"] by saying that Article 15 does not apply to
subjects in civil matters. He further provided exparte
justification by citing in
re: Jason,a supreme court decision that allowed exparte
testimony. (In
re: Jason the court upheldexparte
testimony on the trustworthiness of a policeman. It should be noted, however,
that unlike domestic violence or civil proceedings, the policeman in
re: Jason had nopersonal interest at stake in the outcome of the decision).
·
Provides incentives for law enforcement agencies and prosecutors. Local authorities areencouraged to implement policies for mandatory reporting, mandatory arrest, and "nodrop"
prosecutions. This Commission concurs with a Feminist Majority Foundation
report recommending that domestic violence programs should abandon such rigid and
unfair practices because they often end up harming families (
Safety & Justice for All:Examining the Relationship between the Women’s AntiViolence
Movement and the
Criminal Legal System
. http://www.ms.foundation.org/userassets/PDF/Program/safety_justice.pdf
, pp. 1216)·
Federal laws preemptexisting state law enforcement programs. New Hampshire
currently has strong partner assault laws. The federal Violence of Crime Act already
addresses the issue of domestic violence. VAWA spends $1 billion a year to duplicate
existing programs.
·
Politicizes the judiciary. VAWA provides funding for judicial education which in practicecan amount to prejudicedloaded
rants. In one training session in New Jersey, judges were
instructed: "Your job is not to become concerned about all the constitutional rights of the
man that you’re violating as you grant a restraining order. Throw him out on the street,
give him the clothes on his back and tell him, ‘See ya’ around.’"
(
http://www.ejfi.org/DV/dv10.htm)
·
Funds ideologicallybasedtreatment programs. The National Academy of Sciences
recently concluded that domestic violence programs are frequently "driven by ideology
and stakeholder interests rather than by plausible theories and scientific evidence of
cause." (
Advancing the Federal Research Agenda on Violence Against Women,http://books.nap.edu/catalog/10849.html
, p. 6)·
VAWA represents an overreachingof federal power and unwarranted government
interference into the personal relationships of intimate partners. The Supreme Court has
condemned parts of VAWA as representing federal intrusion into an area of law that falls
squarely within the domain of the states (United States v. Morrison, 2000).
(
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/1261/)·
Corrupts family violence research. Researchers often seek to bias the outcome of theirresearch by interviewing only women, by slanting the wording of questions, or by
selectively reporting research findings. Murray Straus, PhD, of the Family Research Lab
at UNH, told the Task Force on Family Law that domestic violence researchers are known
to leave out material facts about assaultive women in their reports. (
The Controversy overDomestic Violence by Women: A Methodological, Theoretical, and Sociology of Science
Analysis
. http://www.menweb.org/straus21.htm)During the June, 2005 meeting of the Commission, the following resolution was passed
16
regarding
VAWA:
"The Commission on the Status of Men supports the renewal of theViolence Against Women Act only if it is made genderneutral
in language, intent, and
application."
The September issue of
Psychology of Women Quarterly published a special report onFemale Violence Against Intimate Partners, spotlighting the possibility that present DV policy
may be poorly conceived serving
to pour gasoline on fires that could be quenched with a more
reasonable approach. (
Psychology of Women Quarterly, September 2005 http://www.blackwellsynergy.com/toc/pwqu/29/3;jsessionid=caztNaNVav367wpbZy
See also Appendix A for abstractsummaries of the articles.) The Commission supports and reaffirms conclusions reported by
these DV researchers:
1. Women are just as likely as men to engage in physical aggression towards their intimate
partners: "Directly relevant to the theme of this volume, the later research revealed that
males and females reported equally high levels of direct aggression in interaction with
romantic partners." (See Deborah South Richardson article)
2. DV is a problem in lesbian relationships, which refutes the "DV is how the patriarchy
maintains power and control over women" theory. (See article by Kimberly F. Balsam and
Dawn M. Szymanski)
3. DV is a complex social phenomenon which defies simplistic ideological explanations:
"These results indicate that women's physical aggression toward male partners cannot be
understood using a unitary explanation." (See the Nicola GrahamKevan
and John Archer
article)
This collection could be helpful in convincing lawmakers and family courts that women
can be equally aggressive as men; and that the removal of fathers in onesided
exparte
proceedings might prove to be little more than a counterproductive exercise in control and a
grievous miscarriage of justice.
CHILD SUPPORT
Problems with child support compliance persist for both male and female obligors. The
reasons are varied and obscure: Flagrant irresponsibility, insufficient earnings; resentment that
the system discourages the parent/child connection or
even alienates that connection; being
estranged from one's own children (or not being properly attached to begin with); incomebased
guidelines and the widespread concern that money supposedly destined for the children ends up
elsewhere; and feelings of misplaced responsibility. One disgruntled man expressed the latter by
saying he adequately provided for his children prior to an unwanted divorce, but being ordered to
support his children an
act of love he had been doing voluntarily for years compounded
by a
reduced role as "visitor" to his own children, was a crushing blow to his self esteem, initiative,
and sense of responsibility. His position was that if the courts could see their way clear to take
his children from where they were decently provided for to begin with, without just cause, then
the courts should be held responsible for the support of his children.
17
According
to the latest data from the NH Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE
form 157, 2004), compliance rates for all accounts and for all obligors, male and female, remain
mired around 65%. In other words, for every dollar obligor mothers and fathers were ordered to
pay, an average of 65 cents was actually received by the obligee a
rate that has remained
relatively constant over the years. Overall compliance rates have increased only slightly since the
enactment of the 1985 Family Support Act, a federal law requiring most states to establish OCSE
offices as a condition that qualified them to receive federal funding for social programs. In 1985,
before the days of "deadbeat" posters, license revocations, and jail sentences, the compliance
rates for all obligors with child support orders hovered around 60% for all accounts.
An increase of 5% in compliance rates over 20 years might be seen as statistically
insignificant when viewed in the light of the millions spent for enforcement programs and the
gradual increase of shared parenting arrangements and higher levels of father involvement.
Stanford Braver's research found that when a parent
feels like a parent to his or her child (acondition best facilitated by parental involvement and shared parenting), compliance rates can
exceed 90%. Should expensive OCSE enforcement programs be credited with the 5% increase in
compliance rates over 20 years? Or should the credit go, instead, to the courts' increased use of
shared parenting arrangements in custody actions and higher rates of father involvement? Further
study and more data is needed to answer these questions. (Braver, Sanford & O'Connell, Diane
Divorced Dads: Shattering the Myths
, NY: Tarcher/Putnam, 1998. See also Appendix D AProposal to Estimate and Improve the Success of OCSE.)
While there has been a significant increase in the percent of cases having child support
orders because of OCSE initiatives, there has also been a corresponding increase in the number
of children born to unwed parents. (
http://www.ncpa.org/pd/social/pd041801b.html)Present policy may be sending the wrong message to both independentminded
women
who shun "oppressive" marriages in increasing numbers; and to men who are getting
inappropriate messages about their role as fathers. While there has been a steady increase in the
birthrate of children to adult single women over the past dozen years or more government
efforts to encourage father involvement, except to obtain social security numbers, is limited to
enforcement of support that could be garnered by encouraging parents to work together for their
children's needs. Marriage is seen as an oppressive risk to be avoided by growing numbers of
women (and men). Gloria Steinem expressed this philosophy best using simplistic terms:
"Women need men like fish need bicycles." Marriage, formerly held to be the best way to provide
for the needs of children, seems less attractive for women having at their disposal government
"family" support and enforcement services; and less attractive for men who wish to avoid the
50% odds of ending up as defendants in a divorce court that dispenses the gold mine, the
mineshaft and the children in unfair proportions.
A more meaningful measure of OCSE collections effectiveness might be seen in terms of
the absolute numbers of children in the system, and the total dollars collected per child. The NH
OCSE caseload totaled slightly more than 23,000 in 1989, while in 2004, the figure stood at
18
approximately
40,000 about
an 80% increase. In terms of absolute numbers, the problem of
improperly supported children is actually far greater than 5% compliance rate increases can
compensate for and
far greater than it might otherwise be under more traditional mating
conditions because
of a neardoubling
of the numbers of children in the system (who are not
properly attached to both of their natural parents). The measure of collections in terms of
inflationadjusted
dollars per child over the years could not be obtained as of this date, but if the
empirical evidence is any indication, the results will prove disappointing here, as well.
Braver formally rediscovered what we all should have known to begin with: Parents have
a natural inclination to support their children in a meaningful and caring way with the important
caveat that they feel like parents to their children that
they are involved with their children. The
millions spent on support enforcement might have been better spent on programs that encourage
mothers and fathers to be more careful about the way they bring children into the world, and to
encourage intimate involvement of both the mother and the father with their children when they
do.
This Commission recommends that the state sponsor and promote educationalprograms that teach young men and women about the need for children to have two caring
natural parents meaningfully involved in their lives, with an emphasis on the indispensable
role of the father in child development.
OCSE should consider modifying its policy of enforcing only the support portion of
family court decrees to include the parenting aspects of those decrees as well. And the state
should finance this Commission so that it may conduct a detailed study of the causes of the
child support arrearage problem.
THE TASK FORCE ON FAMILY LAW
A representative from the Commission on the Status of Men was assigned to a seat on the
Task Force on Family Law (TFFL) in September, 2003. A year earlier, the legislature had created
the Task Force effective May, 2002. Its duties included developing proposals for a nonadversarial
system for families undergoing a divorce and other family matters. The final report
can be accessed at
http://www.nhbar.org/pdfs/FamLawTFRep04CL.pdf.The TFFL made many valuable recommendations for such things as parenting plans,
modified court procedures, alternative dispute resolutions, and language changes in the law. It
appears that the TFFL might have made significant progress in neutralizing the winlose
atmosphere in family courts that otherwise worsens an already difficult scenario. If its
recommendations are followed, family courts may evolve into a winwin
system that facilitates
communication, compromise, and recognition that both parents are equally important for their
children.
For many disenfranchised male veterans of the family courts, however, it seems that most
of the problems they faced will remain unchanged. Of primary concern is the fear that the
19
suggested
improvements will be trumped by "manufactured acrimony" and "silver bullet"
restraining orders now being issued, literally, by the thousands many
on onesided
testimony.
Men are wondering, with considerable suspicion, how lawyers and other officers of the court,
many of whom have traditionally relied on adversarial proceedings and a winning reputation to
attract clients and income, will work in good faith to reduce the hostilities associated with
custody actions going forward.
Many men remain worried that a bias against them as parents will still exist in spite of
TFFL recommendations for mediation and parenting plans. They worry that women will still be
able to secure control of the children by reacting with hostility toward shared parenting
proposals, and then petitioning for "emergency" restraining orders to neutralize the possibility of
shared parenting. One member expressed such concerns best by saying: "I feel pain for the
fathers who lose their children in family court, but I'd fight like a wildcat to keep from losing
mine." That the TFFL purposefully avoided the topic of shared parenting rights and
responsibilities did nothing to alleviate these fears.
The VAWAfunded
NH Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence (CASDV)
provided testimony that was shown to be false (after the vote) about "joint custody being repealed
as unworkable" (in some states), and made the unsubstantiated charge that "80% of men who
seek shared parenting fit the profile of a batterer," which may have contributed to the TFFLs
refusal to look at or report on the benefits of equal custody for children, in spite of a legislative
intent to review such matters. It was also stated on numerous occasions during TFFL meetings
that shared parenting and mediation should not be considered “if the parents cannot get along”.
An attempt to redress the vacuum in the debate over shared parenting by way of a minority
expression for the TFFL report was rejected by a majority of TFFL members present. The TFFL
minutes twice reflect the fact that its report shall not include a minority expression. These
challenges, in addition to others rooted in gender bias against fathers, resulted in a senate
rejection of HB61 (2005), a bill that would have provided for continuing the TFFL.
Minority Expression
It is reported, with some disappointment, that the TFFL was in disagreement with the
following resolution passed by this Commission on September 29, 2004:
"The New Hampshire Commission on the Status of Men finds and declares that it should
be the public policy of this state that frequent and continuing contact between minor
children and both parents, if the parents have separated or dissolved their marriage, is
ordinarily beneficial to the children. This Commission also finds that it is in the public
interest as well as to children and families to encourage parents to share the rights and
responsibility of child rearing. This Commission recommends that a rebuttable
presumption of joint physical custody should be supported and encouraged."
The following minority expressions were also rejected by the TFFL. This Commission
feels that these items should be included in any dialogue over the best interests of children and
20
continuing
parentchild
relationships. The starting point in any child custody action should be
that both parents are
equally important for their children until clear and convincing evidenceproves otherwise. (Historically, the starting point has been reversed: i.e, parents begin by fighting
for sole custody).
1.
Parenting time should be "Maximized". The parties should anticipate, in a custodyaction absent a parent's inability to maximize their parenting time, that those
administering or supervising domestic cases (i.e., family court) will make every effort to
maximize the time parents have with their children to avoid rendering either of the parties
a loser in the action, and to maximize the likelihood that children will have both natural
parents involved in a meaningful way. The highest and best form of maximized time,
while not always possible, is an equitable split in the time each parent has with the
children. Children want, love, and need two parents.
2.
Child support guidelines should be based on child costs. This Commission recognizesthe contribution to acrimony inherent in New Hampshire's incomebased
child support
guidelines and recommends that child support guidelines be based on child costs not
on
the income of either parent; and that alimony, where necessary, be treated as a separate
line item.
3.
Absent fault grounds, the financial burden of family breakdown should be sharedequally by the parties.
Since a family that splits inherits a significant reduction in livingstandards because of the need for dual accommodations, etc, the parties should be advised
that higher participation in the workplace by
both parties may be required if livingstandards are to be maintained.
4.
Judges and prosecutors should attend educational conferences on domestic violencestructured to avoid the present gender bias that ignores or downplays domestic
violence by women against both men and children.
Another serious source ofacrimony in domestic relations can be traced to domestic violence policy and education.
Much of the literature and protocols on DV have inaccurately introduced the problem as
the responsibility of males over the past dozen years, or more. Judges and prosecutors are
attending DV conferences, the agenda for which is being controlled by an unbalanced
view of the problem by leaving out critical information and perspectives about domestic
violence against men and children. This has resulted in thousands of men being unfairly
forced out of their homes annually on onesided
testimony in "emergency" civil
proceedings.
5.
Properly trained Case Evaluators should screen each domestic violence case with thegoal of arriving at possible alternative solutions.
According to Linda Mills, author ofInsult to Injury
, many women regret losing control when the criminal justice system getsinvolved. Present policy blurs the distinction between a common verbal disagreement and
a physical assault. Any possibility for reconciliation and counseling evaporates under
such conditions. Mills also states, as did Dr. Murray Straus who spoke to us, that in fully
half of all DV incidents, both parties are mutual contributors to the problem, and that in
many of these cases, neutral evaluation might influence a more meaningful outcome
through counseling, thirdparty
communications, and compromise. Dr. Straus further
stated that the issuance of restraining orders on onesided
testimony during the
21
restructuring
of the family is unwise.
6.
Evidentiary standards and procedure should be reviewed and revised in domesticviolence cases.
Testimony from involved interested parties should not be held astrustworthy at socalled
"emergency" exparte hearings. Orders (temporary or permanent)
should not be issued against any defendant without first affording him or her immediate
opportunity to respond. Men, and fathers who care about the relationship with their
children, are being ordered from their homes and children, literally by the thousands, at
"emergency" DV hearings in which restraining orders are petitioned for by women with
secondary gain who claim to be in fear of physical harm. The testimony is often held as
trustworthy in the absence of the defendant, who is most often a man unaware of the
proceeding, and has no immediate opportunity to testify on his own behalf, or face his
accuser. Present policy is unfair, counterproductive, and inflammatory. RSA 173:B, and
any other chapter so written, should be modified by removing such sentences as, "Upon a
showing of immediate and present danger of abuse.... with or without notice to the
defendant," and replacing it with, "Upon a showing of clear and convincing evidence that
abuse has occurred, or is about to occur....no order should be issued without first hearing
from the defendant."
7.
All Domestic Violence protocols and statesponsoredreports should be modified to
change references about male assault rates to include also the female assault rates.
The literature should portray the fact that domestic violence is a twoway
street.
PATERNITY FRAUD AND CERTIFICATES OF BIRTH
Paternity Fraud is a growing concern for men and children everywhere. It can spawn
considerable grief for the men who may or may not be emotionally attached to a child they later
discover was fathered by another; and possibly unsettling for children who may discover the false
nature of their paternity. Such problems can become grievously complicated as in the case of the
Auburn, Maine man who was denied parenting time by the state to a child on which DNA tests
proved was fathered by another man, yet was still ordered by the state to pay child support.
(
http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/special/may/4_24special.htm, Auburn man ordered to paysupport for child that's not his, Portsmouth Herald, April 24, 2005.)
Paternity fraud is defined as the wrong man being named by the mother as the father of
her child for purposes of deceit. It is noteworthy that there is no such thing as "maternity fraud"
and that this is an issue that exclusively exists as a problem that men may face.
Paternity fraud is a growing problem for both men who should have a higher level of
confidence on the paternity of their children, and for the children who need a reliable history of
both parents for the maintenance of their physical and emotional health. The Blood Bank
Association, and Lee Newman, administrator of SafeNH,
report that just under 30% of paternity
tests proved negative for fathers who were fingered to be the sire of their girlfriend's child.
Carnell Smith, a paternity fraud expert who administers
http://www.paternityfraud.com, reportsthat slightly more than 30% of the cases he sampled proved negative. Smith strongly advises
22
young
men not to sign paternity statements until DNA testing proves positive for them.
(
http://www.expertclick.com/search/outsideurl.cfm?groupID=6854)This Commission has on its agenda, "Certificates of Birth." It will be exploring the
possibility of recommending changes in the birth certificate laws under RSA 5C:
11 that may
increase the likelihood of children knowing who their fathers are, of reducing the odds of
children not having their legitimate fathers named on their birth certificates, and to enhance the
possibility that natural fathers and children may be brought closer together.
EDUCATION
The status of boys and young men in education has been attracting increased attention by
education experts in recent years. This surprises many people, who may have heard that schools
"shortchange" girls and assumed that boys were doing just fine. In fact, while many people
became aware of the fact that girls were behind boys in math and science education, an even
wider gender gap remained hidden; that of reading and writing skills, where boys are the ones at
a stark disadvantage.
The low educational status of males is especially disturbing given how little has been
done to recognize and equip them to better succeed in their schooling. Gender inequities are
immediately seen from prekindergarten and continue though postsecondary education. As
educational success has become increasingly critical in an informationdriven
society, the
consequences of leaving males behind continue to worsen.
Early Childhood Education
The challenges that boys face in school can be traced back as early as prekindergarten. A
2005 Yale University report showed that nationally, boys are 4.5 times more likely than girls to be
expelled from prekindergarten programs. Also noteworthy in this study is the observation that
"The increased likelihood of boys to be expelled over girls was similar across all ethnicities,
except for AfricanAmericans,
where boys accounted for 91.4% of the expulsions."
(
Prekindergarteners Left Behind: Expulsion Rates in State Prekindergarten Systems. Walter S.Gilliam, PhD, Yale University Child Study Center. May 2005 Report.)
Reading Scores
Reading scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
demonstrate that in New Hampshire, male students are significantly behind females in this
fundamental skill, and that this gap worsens over time. Using the most recent data (2005), we see
that the percentage gap between boys and girls who are below the Basic reading level jumps from
23
five
points in Grade 4 to ten points in Grade 8. The percentage of boys who are reading below the
Proficient level jumps from 65% to 69% between Grade 4 and Grade 8, while for girls this value
decreases by one percentage point (from 57% to 56%).
Table 1E: New Hampshire Grade 4 NAEP Reading Scores, 2005
Sex Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced
Males 28% 37% 27% 7%
Females 23% 34% 32% 11%
Source: The Nation's Report Card, National Assessment of Educational Progress
24
Table
2E: New Hampshire Grade 8 NAEP Reading Scores, 2005
Sex Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced
Males 25% 44% 29% 2%
Females 15% 41% 39% 5%
Source: The Nation's Report Card, National Assessment of Educational Progress
Mathematics Scores
The 2005 NAEP scores in Mathematics for New Hampshire students demonstrate that the
math gap between boys and girls is much smaller than the reading gap.
Table 3E: New Hampshire Grade 4 Mathematics Scores, 2005
Sex Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced
Males 10% 41% 43% 7%
Females 12% 44% 38% 6%
Source: The Nation's Report Card, National Assessment of Educational Progress
25
Table
4E: New Hampshire Grade 8 Mathematics Scores, 2005
Sex Below Basic Basic Proficient Advanced
Males 23% 41% 29% 8%
Females 22% 45% 27% 5%
Source: The Nation's Report Card, National Assessment of Educational Progress
Teachers
Another trend many educators are concerned about is the disproportionately low number
of male teachers in public schools. The National Education Association reports that nationally, 1
in 5 public school teachers are men. In public elementary schools, this ratio is 1 in 9. The number
of male teachers has been dropping consistently since approximately 1981, when 33% of public
school teachers were men. (
Status of the American Public School Teacher, National EducationAssociation 2001 Report.) In 2003, the NEA reported that "the number of male teachers now
stands at a 40year
low." (
Male Teacher Fact Sheet, 2003. National Education Association.http://www.nea.org/teachershortage/03malefactsheet.html
) This Commission agrees with theNEA's recommendations for increasing the number of male teachers:
·
Raising teacher salaries. "States with the highest salaries tend to have the highestproportion of male teachers."
·
Focus recruitment efforts during high school. "Initiatives to identify prospectiveteachers early in their academic careers have proved successful. Secondary school
surveys, career counseling, and college prep courses can help boost enrollment."
·
Encourage current teachers to promote teaching as a career to their male students."NEA asked the nation's teachers to select, from a list of options, the principal reason
they originally decided to become a teacher. The influence of a teacher in elementary or
26
secondary
school was the 4th most frequently chosen reason (32 percent). Most notably,
teachers under 30 gave this reason with greater frequency than did teachers over 30 (39%
vs. 31%)."
(The above quotes are from:
Male Teacher Fact Sheet, 2003. National Education Association.http://www.nea.org/teachershortage/03malefactsheet.html
)Secondary Education
The New Hampshire Partnership for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education
Research (NH PAPER) surveyed high school seniors from 56 public and eight private high
schools in the state regarding their future plans after completing high school. The 2004 survey
found that young women (67%) were much more likely to plan to attend a 4year
college after
graduating than young men (55%). For students who did not plan to continue their education
after high school, 58% said that they had made this decision in the 11th or 12th grade (21% and
37%, respectively). Also noteworthy in this report is the finding that "female public high school
seniors reported significantly higher grade point averages in English, foreign languages, arts and
music, business studies and computer studies than did male public school seniors. Male public
school seniors did not report higher grade point averages than female seniors in any subject."
(
Measuring Aspirations and Participation, 2004 Survey. New Hampshire Partnership for theAdvancement of Postsecondary Education Research.
http://www.nhpaper.org)Young men also do not make it through secondary education at the same rate as young
women. The U.S. Department of Education reports that in 2001 the high school dropout rate is
higher for men (12.2%) than women (9.3%). (5E) An even greater gender disparity exists when
looking at Hispanic men and women (31.6% vs. 22.1%). (
Digest of Education Statistics, 2002.U.S. Department of Education)
Postsecondary Education
Male students are a minority on college and university campuses in New Hampshire, as
well as nationally. Women began outnumbering men in postsecondary education by the mid1970s,
and this trend has continued to this day, where women make up approximately 60% of all
undergraduate students. The following data shows that this trend also exists at the University of
New Hampshire:
27
Table
5E: UNH, Durham Graduate
Students by Sex, 19992005
Semester Total Male Percent Male Female Percent Female
Fall 1999 1746 730 41.8% 1016 58.2%
Spring 2000 1734 717 41.3% 1017 58.7%
Fall 2000 2078 880 42.3% 1198 57.7%
Spring 2001 2020 859 42.5% 1161 57.5%
Fall 2001 2004 880 43.9% 1124 56.1%
Spring 2002 2009 871 43.4% 1138 56.6%
Fall 2002 2159 953 44.1% 1206 55.9%
Spring 2003 2134 904 42.4% 1230 57.6%
Fall 2003 2324 979 42.1% 1345 57.9%
Spring 2004 2310 937 40.6% 1373 59.4%
Fall 2004 2407 977 40.6% 1430 59.4%
Spring 2005 2368 958 40.5% 1410 59.5%
Source: University of New Hampshire Institutional Research
28
Table
6E: UNH, Durham Undergraduate
Students by Sex, 19992005
Semester Total Male Percent Male Female Percent Female
Fall 1999 9741 3911 40.1% 5830 59.9%
Spring 2000 9331 3730 40.0% 5601 60.0%
Fall 2000 9722 3937 40.5% 5785 59.5%
Spring 2001 9311 3747 40.2% 5564 59.8%
Fall 2001 9893 4074 41.2% 5819 58.8%
Spring 2002 9504 3875 40.8% 5629 59.2%
Fall 2002 10350 4348 42.0% 6002 58.0%
Spring 2003 10002 4184 41.8% 5818 58.2%
Fall 2003 10408 4375 42.0% 6033 58.0%
Spring 2004 10011 4164 41.6% 5847 58.4%
Fall 2004 10470 4456 42.6% 6014 57.4%
Spring 2005 10007 4208 42.1% 5799 57.9%
Source: University of New Hampshire Institutional Research
29
Table
7E: UNH, Durham Associate
Degree Students by Sex, 19992005
Semester Total Male Percent Male Female Percent Female
Fall 1999 478 265 55.4% 213 44.6%
Spring 2000 443 264 59.6% 179 40.4%
Fall 2000 517 308 59.6% 209 40.4%
Spring 2001 470 279 59.4% 191 40.6%
Fall 2001 507 285 56.2% 222 43.8%
Spring 2002 462 266 57.6% 196 42.4%
Fall 2002 517 306 59.2% 211 40.8%
Spring 2003 466 283 60.7% 183 39.3%
Fall 2003 529 300 56.7% 229 43.3%
Spring 2004 462 269 58.2% 193 41.8%
Fall 2004 472 265 56.1% 207 43.9%
Spring 2005 422 246 58.3% 176 41.7%
Source: University of New Hampshire Institutional Research
30
Education
Conclusions
The data presented in this report show that a serious educational problem exists for boys
and young men in New Hampshire. The ability to read and write well is one of the most
fundamental lifeskills,
and one that boys are disproportionately doing poorly at. This needs to be
remedied. When the fact that girls were lagging behind boys in the areas of math and science
education became wellknown,
many educational programs specifically targeted at girls in these
academic areas arose to help boost involvement and achievement. These programs were
extremely successful.
Creating additional education programs tailored to the needs of boysin the areas of reading and writing
would be an obvious first step.The reasons behind the low enrollment levels of young men in colleges and universities
are not well understood. Certainly, improving the overall academic achievement of boys earlier
on in education will increase the number of collegebound
secondary students.
Resources suchas the NH PAPER survey should be expanded to cover an accurate sampling of all high
school students in the state, and focus on identifying the reasons why male students are
deciding to forgo higher education.
Finally, it is a recommendation of this Commission that awareness of the problems
boys face in our schools become a greater focus in the education community and the public.
Many educators see the problems that boys face on a daily basis, but do not have enough support
from the general public to take stronger actions to help correct these inequities.
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
The Commission on the Status of Men recommends and suggests that:
·
The State of New Hampshire take steps to reduce the disparity between theinvestment in women’s health issues and men’s health issues, and to design
programs concentrating on addressing in a genderneutral
manner those conditions
and diseases with the highest incidence and the highest rates of morbidity and
mortality.
·
The State of New Hampshire provide further directed study and proactiveintervention programs, including educational programs at the elementary school
level directed at bolstering the selfesteem
of boys and helping them develop
increased coping skills and new approaches to personal and interpersonal conflict,
coupled with increased prevention programs directed at those segments of our
society most likely to succeed in committing suicide.
·
Educational programs be promoted that teach young men and women about theneed for children to have two caring natural parents meaningfully involved in their
lives, with an emphasis on the role of the father in child development.
31
·
The Office of Child Support Enforcement modify its policy of enforcing only the
financial support portion of family court decrees to include the parenting aspects of
those decrees, as well.
·
Research on the father's role in child development be given the widest possiblepublicity and attention.
·
The Governor of New Hampshire issue a proclamation declaring that both naturalparents are equally important for their children.
·
It should be the public policy of this state that frequent and continuing contactbetween minor children and both parents, if the parents have separated or dissolved
their marriage, is ordinarily beneficial to the children. This commission also finds
that it is in the public interest as well as to children and families to encourage
parents to share the rights and responsibility of child rearing; and that a rebuttable
presumption of joint physical custody be supported and encouraged.
·
Parenting time should be "maximized".·
Child support guidelines should be based on child costs.·
OCSE should consider modifying its policy of enforcing only the support portion offamily court decrees to include the parenting aspects of those decrees as well.
·
Absent fault grounds, the financial burden of family breakdown should be shared bythe parties on an equal basis.
·
Judges, prosecutors and other court personnel should attend educationalconferences on domestic violence (DV) structured to avoid the present gender bias
that ignores or discounts domestic violence by women against both men and
children.
·
Properly trained Case Evaluators should screen each domestic violence case with thegoal of arriving at mutually agreeable solutions in an atmosphere of communication
and compromise.
·
Evidentiary standards and procedure should be reviewed and revised in domesticviolence cases.
·
Statesponsoredreports and protocols on domestic violence should be modified to
change references about male assault rates to include also the female assault rates.
·
The number of male public school teachers should be increased by raising teachersalaries, promoting male teacher recruitment in high schools, and encouraging
current teachers to take an active role in recruiting young men as teachers.
·
Create additional education programs tailored to the needs of boys in the areas ofreading and writing.
·
Resources such as the NH PAPER survey should be expanded to cover an accuratesampling of all high school students in the state, and focus on identifying the reasons
why male students are deciding to forgo higher education.
·
Awareness of the problems boys face in our schools should become a greater focus inthe education community and the public.
·
Funding be provided this commission to finance an executive director, supplies,32
telephone,
office and computer equipment; and to enable the production of
brochures and public service announcements designed to improve and promote
health, education and policies which would bring fathers and children closer
together pursuant to RSA 19I:
4.
33
APPENDIX
A
Summary Abstracts of Articles from the Fall issue of the Psychology of Women
FEMALE VIOLENCE AGAINST INTIMATE PARTNERS: AN INTRODUCTION Irene
Hanson Frieze
This special issue addresses some of the contradictions found in the research literature on
intimate partner violence. Much of this work is concerned with the problems of severely battered
women. However, other research indicates that women can be just as violent as their partners.
Articles in this issue begin to explore some of the ways that women express intimate partner
violence and argue that there is more than one type of partner violence. Motives and other
correlates of violence are examined and future research directions are outlined.
THE MYTH OF FEMALE PASSIVITY: THIRTY YEARS OF REVELATIONS ABOUT
FEMALE AGGRESSION Deborah
South Richardson
This article reviews an extensive program of research that has examined gender differences in
aggressive behavior. Early research in the aggression laboratory that was designed to explain why
females were non aggressive actually revealed that females did respond to provocation and that
they could not accurately be depicted as passive individuals. Subsequent studies that examined
both indirect and direct aggression revealed that women were at least as likely as men to employ
indirect aggressive strategies and that the nature of relationship is a better determinant of
aggressive action than gender. Directly relevant to the theme of this volume, the later research
revealed that males and females reported equally high levels of direct aggression in interaction
with romantic partners.
COURTSHIP BEHAVIORS, RELATIONSHIP VIOLENCE, AND BREAKUP PERSISTENCE
IN COLLEGE MEN AND WOMEN Stacey
L. Williams, Irene Hanson Frieze
This study assessed college men's (n= 85) and women's (n= 215) courtship persistence behaviors
(approach, surveillance, intimidation, mild aggression), which have been linked to stalking, and
examined their relations to initial courtship interest, relationship development, and future
violence and persistence, while also exploring the role of gender in these relations. Findings
showed individuals performed surveillance when initially more interested than the other.
Whereas approach behaviors were positively associated with relationship establishment,
surveillance and intimidation were negatively associated. As predicted, results showed continuity
in persistence and violence over the course of dating relationships. For both genders, courtship
mild aggression predicted relationship violence, and persistence behaviors predicted similar
persistence at breakup. Early behaviors may foreshadow violence and stalkingrelated
behaviors
in both men and women.
34
RELATIONSHIP
QUALITY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN WOMEN'S SAMESEX
RELATIONSHIPS: THE ROLE OF MINORITY STRESS Kimberly
F. Balsam, Dawn M.
Szymanski
Despite a large body of literature addressing relationship quality and domestic violence in
women's samesex
relationships, few studies have empirically examined how stress specific to
living as a lesbian or bisexual woman might correlate with these relationship variables. Degree of
outness, internalized homophobia, lifetime and recent experiences of discrimination,
butch/femme identity, relationship quality, and lifetime and recent experiences of domestic
violence were assessed in a sample of 272 predominantly European American lesbian and
bisexual women. Lesbian and bisexual women were found to be comparable on most relationship
variables. In bivariate analyses, minority stress variables (internalized homophobia and
discrimination) were associated with lower relationship quality and both domestic violence
perpetration and victimization. Outness and butch/femme identity were largely unrelated to
relationship variables. Path analysis revealed that relationship quality fully mediated the
relationship between internalized homophobia and recent domestic violence.
INVESTIGATING THREE EXPLANATIONS OF WOMEN'S RELATIONSHIP
AGGRESSION Nicola
GrahamKevan
and John Archer
This study investigated explanations of women's partner aggression in a sample of 358 women.
Women completed measures of physical aggression, control, and fear. Three explanations of
women's partner aggression were explored: (a) that its use is associated with fear, (b) that it is
reciprocal, and (c) that it is coercive. Each explanation received partial support, with multivariate
analysis showing that collectively they explained significant proportions of the variance in
women's selfreported
use of physical aggression toward their male partners. These results
indicate that women's physical aggression toward male partners cannot be understood using a
unitary explanation.
INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY COLLEGE WOMEN WITHIN THE
CONTEXT OF A HISTORY OF VICTIMIZATION Kelly
N. Graves, Stacy M. Sechrist,
Jacquelyn W. White1, and Matthew J. Paradise
Using a longitudinal design, the current study explored intimate partner violence perpetration
among 1,300 college women within the context of one's history of physical and sexual
victimization across 4 years of college. Structural equation modeling indicated that sexual
victimization does not predict concurrent use of women's intimate partner violence but does
predict subsequent use of women's intimate partner violence during the later years of college. In
contrast, physical victimization is associated positively with concurrent use of women's intimate
partner violence but is negatively associated with subsequent use of women's intimate partner
violence for women. Furthermore, the negative relationship of victimization to subsequent
perpetration primarily is due to those with high levels of victimization histories. The present
study provides the first model of intimate partner violence within the context of victimization
history using longitudinal data. The findings indicate that women's intimate partner violence
35
perpetration
is not contextfree,
but rather is influenced by their own physical and sexual
victimization histories.
PRECURSORS AND CORRELATES OF WOMEN'S VIOLENCE: CHILD ABUSE
TRAUMATIZATION, VICTIMIZATION OF WOMEN, AVOIDANCE COPING, AND
PSYCHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS Tami
P. Sullivan, Katharine J. Meese, Suzanne C. Swan1,
Carolyn M. Mazure, and David L. Snow
Path modeling assessed (a) the influence of child abuse traumatization on women's use of
violence and their experiences of being victimized, (b) the association of these three variables to
depressive and post traumatic stress symptoms, and (c) the indirect pathways from women using
violence and their being victimized to psychological symptoms through avoidance coping.
Among 108 primarily African American women recruited from the community who used
violence with a male partner, women's use of violence, but not their experiences of being
victimized, was predicted by child abuse traumatization. Women's use of violence did not
directly or indirectly predict symptomatology. In contrast, child abuse traumatization and
women's experiences of being victimized were predictive of both depressive and post traumatic
stress symptoms, and being victimized also was related indirectly to depressive symptoms
through avoidance coping.
RELATIONSHIP VIOLENCE AMONG ADOLESCENT MOTHERS: FREQUENCY, DYADIC
NATURE, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR RELATIONSHIP DISSOLUTION AND MENTAL
HEALTH Stephanie
Milan and Jessica Lewis, Kathleen Ethier, Trace Kershaw and Jeannette R.
Ickovics
This article examines whether the frequency, dyadic nature, and potential implications of
relationship violence differ in parenting (n= 163) and nulliparous (i.e., never given birth; n= 165)
adolescent females from lowincome,
urban communities. We found the frequency and dyadic
nature of violence did not differ between parental status groups. Over half of the adolescents in
both groups reported relationship violence in the past year, with femaleenacted
violence more
common than maleenacted
violence. However, significant group differences emerged in the
relationship between violence and subsequent relationship dissolution and mental health. Higher
levels of femaleenacted
violence predicted relationship dissolution among nulliparous
adolescents but predicted increases in depression in parenting adolescents. Findings highlight the
need for violence prevention programs tailored specifically to the developmental and contextual
needs of adolescent mothers.
AN INVESTMENT MODEL ANALYSIS OF RELATIONSHIP STABILITY AMONG
WOMEN COURTMANDATED
TO VIOLENCE INTERVENTIONS Deborah
L. Rhatigan,
Todd M. Moore, Gregory L. Stuart
This investigation examined relationship stability among 60 women courtmandated
to violence
interventions by applying a general model (i.e., Rusbult's 1980 Investment Model) to predict
intentions to leave current relationships. As in past research, results showed that Investment
36
Model
predictions were supported such that courtmandated
women who reported lesser
relationship satisfaction, greater alternatives, and fewer investments in current relationships
endorsed lower levels of commitment and greater intentions to leave those relationships.
Secondary analyses showed that courtmandated
women's violence perpetration and experiences
of being victimized were minimally related to model factors or women's intentions to leave.
Taken together, results of this study provide additional evidence that general models should be
used to predict relationship termination decisions among women involved in violent
relationships, and violence experiences alone do not affect that decision.
A POSTMODERN APPROACH TO WOMEN'S USE OF VIOLENCE: DEVELOPING
MULTIPLE AND COMPLEX CONCEPTUALIZATIONS Maureen
C. McHugh, Nichole A.
Livingston, and Amy Ford
We review the research on intimate partner abuse and, in particular, the articles in this issue,
from within a feminist and postmodern framework. Research on women's use of violence is
reviewed in terms of how researchers have constructed and measured violence and have
conceptualized intimate partner violence (IPV) and gender. What and how we measure
determines what we find (McHugh & Cosgrove, 2005). We call for new conceptualizations of
intimate violence and for more complex constructions of gender. We offer a postmodern
perspective on gender and IPV arguing that interpersonal violence always involves gender, that
approach and method influence results, and that men and women use violence in both similar and
different ways.
37
APPENDIX
B
CHILDREN LIKELY TO BE BETTER ADJUSTED IN JOINT VS SOLE CUSTODY
ARRANGEMENTS IN MOST CASES, ACCORDING TO REVIEW OF RESEARCH
American Psychological Association
March 24, 2002
http://www.apa.org/releases/custody2.html
Living Situation Not As Influential As Time Spent With Parent
WASHINGTON Children
from divorced families who either live with both parents at different
times or spend certain amounts of time with each parent are better adjusted in most cases than
children who live and interact with just one parent, according to new research on custody
arrangements and children's adjustment.
Psychologist Robert Bauserman, Ph.D., of AIDS Administration/Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene in Baltimore, Maryland conducted a metaanalysis
of 33 studies between 1982 to
1999 that examined 1,846 solecustody
and 814 jointcustody
children. The studies compared
child adjustment in joint physical or joint legal custody with solecustody
settings and 251 intact
families. Joint custody was defined as either physical custody where
a child spends equal or
substantial amounts of time with both parents or shared legal custody where
a child lives with
primarily one parent but both parents are involved in all aspects of the child's life. This article
will appear in the March issue of the Journal of Family Psychology, published by the American
Psychological Association (APA).
Children in joint custody arrangements had less behavior and emotional problems, had higher
selfesteem,
better family relations and school performance than children in sole custody
arrangements. And these children were as welladjusted
as intact family children on the same
measures, said Bauserman, "probably because joint custody provides the child with an
opportunity to have ongoing contact with both parents."
These findings indicate that children do not actually need to be in a joint physical custody to
show better adjustment but just need to spend substantial time with both parents, especially with
their fathers, said Bauserman. Also, joint custody couples reported less conflict, possibly because
both parents could participate in their children's lives equally and not spend the time arguing over
childcare decisions. Unfortunately a perception exists that joint custody is more harmful because
it exposes children to ongoing parental conflict. In fact, the studies in this review found that solecustody
parents reported higher levels of conflict.
It is important to recognize that the results do not support joint custody in all situations. When
one parent is abusive or neglectful or has a serious mental or physical health problem, solecustody
with the other parent would clearly be preferable, said Bauserman. The judges, lawyers,
38
social
workers, psychologists and other professionals involved in divorce counseling and
litigation should be aware of these findings to make informed decisions of what environment is
best for a child in a custody situation.
Furthermore, to address the question of how much the parents' emotional health compared with
the custody arrangement influenced the children's adjustment, Bauserman explained that custody
arrangement seemed to have more influence. By statistically controlling for past parental conflict
(which indicates parental maladjustment), the joint custody children still were significantly better
adjusted. This result was also found in other studies cited in Bauserman's review. More primary
research is needed, said Bauserman, "on the past and current adjustment of joint custody and sole
custody parents before this question can be completely answered." Article:
"Child Adjustment in JointCustody
Versus SoleCustody
Arrangements: A MetaAnalytic
Review," Robert Bauserman, Ph.D., AIDS Administration/Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene; Journal of Family Psychology , Vol 16, No. 1.
Full text of the article is available from the APA Public Affairs Office or at
http://www.apaorg/journals/releases/fam16191.pdf
Robert Bauserman, PhD, can be reached by telephone at 4107674322
39
APPENDIX
C
Paternal Involvement and Children’s Health: A Longitudinal Study
Kathleen A. Foley, University of Pennsylvania and Frank F. Furstenberg, University of
Pennsylvania
CONCLUSIONS
Whereas previous studies have had difficultly demonstrating that fathers matter to the well being
of their children, our results provide strong evidence that fathers do, in fact, count for important
measures of physical and mental health. Both male and female children who felt close to a father
in adolescence were significantly more likely to report better physical and mental health
outcomes at age 27 net of their physical and mental health when they were teenagers. In addition,
we found that losing a close father relationship between early childhood and adolescence had
significant negative implications for both physical and mental health. Our lack of significant
findings for depression at age 27 in light of earlier positive findings at age 20 (Furstenberg and
Harris 1993) suggests that the beneficial effects of having a close father diminish over time for
depression.
The fact that we were able to demonstrate statistically significant benefits of father closeness on
several children’s physical and mental health in adulthood, despite our small sample, points to the
advantages of using longitudinal data. First, we include data on all types of fathers, including
surrogate, step and nonresidential
fathers as opposed to just biological fathers. Second, we asked
the children themselves to rate their relationship with their fathers rather than relying on mother
reports. Not only may mother’s reports be an inaccurate reflection of the child’s feelings, but they
may also be influenced by the mother’s own opinion of and relationship with the father. Thus,
future studies may benefit from asking children directly about their relationships with their
biological father and other father figures who may or may not be coresident
with the child.
Our inability to find a significant effect of paternal contact on children’s physical and mental
health should not be overlooked. While there is some evidence that more paternal involvement is
better than less involvement for mental health in adulthood, we found no evidence that resident
fathers mattered more than nonresident
fathers. Given the small percentage of low income inner
city children who have long term residential fathers (Coley 1999), this finding is good news. In
conjunction with our results showing the advantages of close paternal relationships, this finding
implies that close, loving fathers, whether they be residential or not, matter for their children’s
later well being.
While it is unwise to read too much into these rather preliminary results, it seems clear that one
way public policy can help inner city children is to assist fathers in staying involved with their
children throughout adolescence. Reporting on preliminary findings from the Fragile Families
Study, McLanahan (1999) suggests that public policy take advantage of the window of
opportunity present at the time of a child’s birth to keep enthusiastic fathers active in their
40
children’s
lives. The results of our study here second that notion.
APPENDIX D
A PROPOSAL TO ESTIMATE AND IMPROVE THE SUCCESS OF THE OFFICE OF CHILD
SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT
Reports sent to the public on the effectiveness of child support enforcement programs have
traditionally relied on two factors: (A) total dollars collected year to year, and (B) a ratio of
dollars collected divided by the dollars spent to administer and enforce collections (State of New
Hampshire Child Support Services, Performance Audit Report, 1995). These methods of analysis
may send a false sense of effectiveness because total caseloads and dollars ordered rise in tandem
with dollars collected, and the administrative ratio is difficult to interpret in terms of success (i.e,
how many child support dollars would still be collectible in the absence of any administrative
costs).
Factors A & B do not show the complete picture. NH Compliance rates consistently remain
mired at less than 65% for all accounts and all obligors, even as totals collected risehardly
significant when compared with rates that hovered at around 60% for all accounts way back in
1985, or the 90% compliance rates for involved parents (Braver, 1998). When viewed in terms of
absolute numbers of children involved, the poverty problem for children is even worse because a
5% increase in compliance cannot compensate for, say, an 80% increase in the numbers of
children in the system.
The key to the proper support of children, in both economic and overall wellnessas
S. Braver
reports in Divorced Dads: Shattering the Myths, 1998is
greater attention to the parental
involvement factor for both divorced and never married parents. But more data is needed, as
prescribed below, to better define the problem and the need:
I. An indepth
accounting of the listed items to have a better handle on success/failure of
enforcement programs:
a) Total amounts ordered yr to yr since 1986 for all accounts.
b) Total amounts collected yr to yr since 1986 for all accounts.
c) Percent total success rates yr to yr for all accounts in terms of both dollars collected and
obligors in full compliance.
d) Dollars collected in terms of dollars collected per child for all accounts yr to yr since
1986. (Nominal & inflation adjusted)
e) Total arrearages for all accounts accumulative yr to yr since 1986 and present overall
arrearage total.
f) An assessment on the extent to which support enforcement officers conducted
investigations and enforcement pertaining to visitation as prescribed by occupational job
description code 894517.
g) Total cases and total children yr to yr to discover the problem in terms of absolute
41
numbers
of children in the system.
h) Total dollars yr to yr that were charged off as noncollectable and overall total of
noncollectable dollars.
42
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