It has been acknowledged (McCashin, 1996; Hogan & Gilbertson, 2007) that services designed to support families tend to focus on the mother and children and little contact is generally made with fathers, even when they are resident in the family home. Considering the changes in family structure in contemporary society and the often complex range of needs held by families who avail of social care services, this paper provides some insights in the factors that impact on non-resident fathers. The paper presents a literature review on the topic of non-resident fathers covering areas such as fathers’ role in the family and in children’s development; factors that have been found to impact on non-resident fathers’ contact with their children and the impact of non-residency on the fathers themselves
