Assessing parental capacity in abusive fathers – A pilot study in child social welfare using an interview based on reflective functioning

AbstractPurposeParents’ ability to mentalize/reflect on their close relations is an important aspect of parenting capacity. Child welfare services (CWS) could benefit from assessing mentalizing capacity in fathers who have perpetrated family violence (FV) because it could inform the investigation about risk in relation to children’s safety and felt security. We designed an interview guide based on parental reflective functioning (Slade, 2005) and tested it in CWS and support centers. We aimed to investigate whether it was possible to code different aspects of reflective functioning (RF) according to the RF coding system and whether there were variations between these RF aspects within and between fathers.MethodsFathers in contact with support services (n = 10) or involved in a CWS investigation (n = 8) were interviewed using the iRiSk interview, and RF levels were coded in relation to (1) the child, (2) the father himself, (3) the other parent, and (4) family violence.ResultsOur results, although preliminary, suggest that it is possible to reliably code mentalization regarding different aspects of parenting and FV using the standard RF coding system. RF levels were generally low and varied between aspects. Future studies should focus on corroborating this finding and its usefulness in CWS investigative as well supportive work with family violence.ConclusionsFathers’ responses to mentalization-based questions can add useful information in assessments of risk and parenting capacity. Future studies should focus on corroborating the finding and its usefulness in CWS investigative as well as supportive work with FV.