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March 2, 2020 – scholarship from Dr. Rachel Birnbaum and Prof. Nick Bala

Introduction: In today’s ESP Thought of the Day, we look at some of the scholarship from Dr. Rachel Birnbaum and Prof. Nick Bala – two of Canada’s leading authorities on Child Custody/Access law and practice.

A good and cooperative relationship between custodial mothers and non-custodial fathers is associated with more and better-quality father involvement and, in turn, positive outcomes, including feelings of closeness to their fathers, in children, adolescents, and adult children of divorce (Ahrons & Tanner, 2003;, Aquilino, 2006; Kelly, 2012; Lamb, 2016; Maccoby & Mnookin, 1992; Pruett et al., 2003; Sobolewsky & King, 2005; Whiteside & Becker, 2000). Recently, commentators have examined various factors that facilitate or hinder separated and / or divorced parents relationship with their children and each other (Austin, Pruett, Kirkpatrick, Flens, and Gould, 2013; Ganong, Coleman & McCaulley, 2012; Ganong, Coleman & Chapman, 2016). Often referred to as “gatekeeping” (i.e., attitudes and behaviours that either facilitate or restrict the other parent’s opportunity to parent and develop close relationships with their children).

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The literature shows that father involvement in the lives of their children can be as important as the role of mothers.

FROM: Rachel Birnbaum and Nicholas Bala, Making Parenting Plans in Canada’s Family Justice System: Challenges, Controversies and the Role of Mental Health Professionals, Thomson Reuters Canada Limited, Toronto, 2019, pp. 60 – 61

Link to Gene C. Colman’s Equal Shared Parenting Web Page

Link to past issues of the ESP Thought of the Day publication

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