’From the Beginning, a Lost Battle’: Perspectives of fathers and social workers on gender dynamics and abusive backgrounds in therapeutic relationships

• Fathers play a crucial role in families, but they are often marginalized in therapeutic processes by social service departments. This highlights a significant gap in service provision. • Gender dynamics and histories of abuse can significantly impact the therapeutic relationships between fathers and social workers, making these interactions complex. • Both fathers and social workers may hold preconceived notions that shape their expectations and outcomes, emphasizing the need for sensitivity and awareness. • Histories of abusive behavior among fathers can lead to persistent tension and trust issues in their relationships with social workers. This presents significant challenges that require specialized approaches and interventions. In recent times, there has been growing recognition of the crucial role that fathers play in the therapeutic processes implemented by social services that target families who have experienced child maltreatment. However, empirical evidence indicates that fathers are often overlooked and excluded from social services departments’ therapeutic processes and intervention initiatives. To address this issue, a qualitative case study approach was utilized in the current study to amplify the voices of 25 female social workers and 25 fathers within the social services department of an impoverished community in Israel. The study revealed four themes: (1) Gender-based stereotypes that fathers and social workers bring to the encounter lead to inaccurate expectations and disillusionment of the therapeutic process (2) Workers’ preference to interact with mothers leaves fathers out of the picture (3) Fathers’ history of abusive behaviors leads to continual tension between fathers and social workers (4) Fathers’ history of abusive behaviors makes mutual trust between the two parties elusive. The research findings highlight the need for implementation of a training program to educate employees on adopting a gender-sensitive approach towards working with fathers. Furthermore, the results underscore the significance of acknowledging various challenges, such as continued stereotypes, continual tension, and obstacles to establishing mutual trust, all of which impede the efficacy of the therapeutic relationship.