Russell, P. (2014) An empirical exploration of parental responsibility for step-parents. Child and Family Law Quarterly, 26 (3). pp. 301-321. ISSN 1358-8184
Abstract
Parental responsibility is a central concept in the legal framework of child and parent relations in England and Wales, yet its meaning and utility is contested. This article seeks to provide a fresh perspective in order to enhance understanding of the concept, by reference to the views of step-parents obtained in interview. Step-parents’ experiences of parenting and views of their parenting role can yield particularly interesting insights into parental responsibility as they may carry out day-to-day parenting yet lack a biological link. Although the acquisition of parental responsibility would be of assistance to a proportion of step-parents, data released by the Ministry of Justice indicates that take-up by step-parents of parental responsibility has been very low. Drawing upon interview data, this paper argues that step-parents may identify parental responsibility with being a parent, not with the activity of parenting. For some step-parents, this is a deterrent to its acquisition. The article concludes by recommending a change of name from ‘parental responsibility’ to ‘child responsibility’ to sever the link with parenthood.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Editors: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2014 Jordan Publishing. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Child and Family Law Quarterly. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Parenting; step-parenting; parental responsibility |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > School of Law (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 19 Apr 2016 14:36 |
Last Modified: | 26 Oct 2016 06:17 |
Published Version: | http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/PrintRequest?collect... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Jordan Publishing |
Refereed: | Yes |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:98563 |