Divorced Dads (Hardcover)

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From Publishers Weekly
Men who bridle at the stereotype of the "deadbeat dad" with "zipper" problems who vanishes from his children's lives will find consolation in this provocative look at fatherhood in the age of divorce. In an effort to rehabilitate the image of divorced dads and to present them as overwhelmingly responsible and caring parents, Braver, a professor of psychology at Arizona State University, explains how the negative stereotypes have taken hold. Basing his theories on a study he conducted over eight years with 1000 divorcing couples, he argues that faulty research and the need for a villain in divorce cases has fueled a "jeering chorus" of politicians, journalists and sociologists that has transformed bad fatherhood into "an obvious and defenseless scapegoat for the ills of society." Although the U.S. Census Bureau reports that only half of all women receive the child support awarded by the courts, the author contends that this figure is suspect because it doesn't distinguish between divorced fathers and those who've never been married; the latter group, he argues, is less likely to comply with child support. He also contends that many women give erroneous responses when questioned about the money they've received. Braver supports joint custody as being in the child's best interest, but his conviction that children without active fathers join gangs, commit crimes, become pregnant or fail in school?an idea that Braver traces to Patrick Moynihan's now famous 1968 treatise on broken families?is highly debatable. Braver's argument for encouraging dads to get more involved in their families is refreshingly free of chest-thumping rhetoric, but readers with more fluid, less patriarchal notions of family life will find much here to question. Editor, Irene Prokop; agent, Janet Spencer King.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
funded study showing that some divorced fathers really do care about their children. In 1985, Braver (Psychology/Arizona State Univ.) began following more than 1,000 families in Maricopa County, Ariz. (which includes Phoenix), who had filed for divorce but whose marriages were not yet dissolved. His purpose was to put some meat on the bones of the numbers that pointed to divorced dads as abandoning their children financially and emotionally, and to find out why this was happening, if it was. He and his colleagues discovered the numbers were wrong. The Census Bureau figures that had fueled tough new laws (and expensive bureaucracies) to enforce child support were based on interviews only with custodial parents (usually mothers). Then, too, census researchers combined statistics concerning families of divorce with those of never-married single parents to create what Braver calls the myth of deadbeat dads. The author's research demonstrates that the divorced father's unemployment is the most important factor in nonpayment of child support. Myths under attack: the ``disappearing dad,'' who initiates the divorce and then deserts his children; and the widely cited 73 percent drop in standard of living that divorced mothers and children suffer (an alleged error in arithmetic by Harvard researcher Lenore Weitzman). Braver's calculations indicate that post-divorce mothers and fathers share about the same standard of living, at least in the beginning. Although hes not above citing outmoded figures and attitudes himself, Braver does demonstrate that much of the negative view of divorced fathers is dated. The book concludes with suggestions for reform of custody policies and for programs, including extensive counseling and mediation, to either prevent divorce or help both parents minimize its impact on their children. Male martyrdom may be overstated here, but new material suggests that everyone, including fathers, suffers in divorce. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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First Sentence:
No one who has read newspapers or magazines, watched TV, listened to radio, or gone to the movies in the last couple of decades could fail to come to the conclusion that divorced fathers are generally irresponsible people. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
father dropout, joint residential custody, dad image, joint legal custody, vorced fathers, equality trap, gender scholars, summer visitation, divorce system, psychopathic deviance, much child support, custodial mothers, custody evaluator, divorce revolution, custody families, noncustodial fathers, divorcing families, noncustodial parents, equivalence scales, joint physical custody, paying child support Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Census Bureau, New York, Maricopa County, Lenore Weitzman, David Blankenhorn, Judith Wallerstein, Arizona State University, Constance Ahrons, Frank Furstenburg, Lower Standard Budget, Terry Arendell, United States, Fatherless America, Husband's Answer Wave, Office of Child Support Enforcement, Wife's Answer Wave New!
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21 Reviews 5 star:  (18) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review 4.7 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   21 of 21 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Affirming... and Depressing., February 15, 1999 By  Timothy Barden (Vermont) - See all my reviews Braver and O'Connell's Divorced Dads: Shattering the Myths, emerges as the first work on the subject to extend it's reach beyond mere hyperbole in either direction. Having put pen to paper expecting to verify current cultural wisdom about the attitudes and actions men who experience divorce have toward their children, the authors instead develop a credible body of research showing that most of what is thought of as true.... simply isn't. In the same vein as works like "Who Stole Feminism" by Christina Hoff Sommers, it dares to question many of the myths that have served to paint men into an anachronistic corner as we move into the twenty-first century. While we live in a world that increasingly supports women in "nontraditional roles from the corporate boardroom to construction site, there are no such affirmative action programs for men who want to start daycare centers or be stay at home dads. Such is the paradoxical society that Divorced Dads writes about. My only criticism of the book is it's rather brief treatment at looking at the reasons behind the myths and prejudice described within. Without understanding the reasons behind them, they will be difficult to correct. I found it affirming in its ability to describe the kind of prejudice I have personally experienced as a divorced dad, and depressing in its description of the despair and isolation such men frequently face when trying to stay involved in their children's lives. Hopefully, this book will help stimulate disenfranchised fathers, open-minded politicians and policy makers into action intended to reverse the laws and attitudes preventing children from having loving relationships with both their parents. Our children deserve no less. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   20 of 20 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars One of the great works of the 20th Century., September 15, 1999 By A Customer Sanford Braver and Diane O'Connell drop an h-bomb on the conspiracy cells involved in destroying the United States through attacking families, especially via fathers. He uses the most potent weapon of all -- the facts. Braver's accomplishment is one of the great works of the 20th Century. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   33 of 36 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars "I was so flabbergasted, I could think of no response ...", January 9, 2000 By  Gerald L. Rowles, Ph.D. (Johnston, IA USA) - See all my reviews Those are the words of Dr. Sandy Braver, recounting his experience at a moderated conference on child support collections, after the moderator stated: "You know, I've heard about your (Dr. Braver's) findings. Our panel was discussing this very issue, of differences between mother's and father's answers, over lunch. And what we concluded was if the mother tells you one thing and the father tells you something else, then the father is a g--damned liar." Dr. Braver's book should be in the hands of every legislator who purports to conduct an equitable review of the Divorce Industry. Gerald L. Rowles, Ph.D. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 21 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Arm Yourself With the Truth Family issues are among the most important we face as individuals and as a nation. But the public has been indoctrinated with false information, rendering us vulnerable to... Read more Published 17 months ago by Roger Gay 5.0 out of 5 stars Should be required reading! Once upon a time, I separated from my kids' Mom. All I wanted was "joint custody" -- after all, she's Mom, I'm Dad, and kids are entitled to BOTH! Read more Published 19 months ago by Dedicated_Dad 5.0 out of 5 stars A story black-listed by Big Media. In "free" America, dads are imprisoned for being dads. Millions of bogus temporary orders of restraint are the uncooperative mother's preferred tool of ruin. Read more Published on December 29, 2004 by JL 4.0 out of 5 stars Must read for legislators, fathers, attorneys... Excellent book. Dispels many myths that exist in the family court system today. It should be a must read for legislators, domestic relations attorneys and judges, and fathers in... Read more Published on August 5, 2004 by C. Yanda 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource For Fathers This book was a very valuable tool for me and my attorney. Along with Attorney Jeffery Leving's book Father's Rights I would put this book at the top of the list for any father... Read more Published on July 2, 2004 5.0 out of 5 stars Time to put in practice what our tax dollars funded!! This is the work of Sanford Braver's 8 year long, tax-payer funded, independent study on the rampant lies, myths, and blatant bureaucratic corruption involving ANOTHER system we... Read more Published on June 10, 2004 by psychosy 5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing when the FACTS speak for themselves! When you listen to what most Womens and/or DV groups or organizations positions', tone and attitude say about Dads these days, and then compare their "politically-correct... Read more Published on September 10, 2002 by cheetahftl 5.0 out of 5 stars An invaluable resource As someone who spent several years working in a Texas courthouse, I had many experiences in dealing with child custody cases and the day-to-day child support procedures. Read more Published on April 9, 2002 by adolfo pesquera 4.0 out of 5 stars Thank you for speaking out Thank you for speaking out. As a Divorced Dad, I have lived through the abuse and destruction of my life brought on by my unhappy ex-wife. Read more Published on April 22, 2001 1.0 out of 5 stars Mythological Bull written to destroy single-parent homes As a systems integration developer who's worked on several Deadbeat Dads projects for various state's soc. Read more Published on January 8, 2000 by Tante Waileka Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 21 customer reviews...

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