Making Fathers Pay

Part One - Introduction
1. "I'm Going to Teach You a Lesson"
2. Seeking Answers
The Friends of the Court
The Michigan Counties Studied
Part Two - Families in Divorce
3. The Divorced Families in Genesee County
Backgrounds
The Marriages and the Children
Reasons for Wanting Out: The Divorce
A Summary Synthesis
4. The Economics of Divorce
Fixing the Order of Support
Financial Positions after Divorce
Summary
Part Three - What Makes Fathers Pay?
5. Payment of Support
Why Fathers Might Not Pay
Payment in Genesee County
6. Why Some Counties Collect More than Others
Methods
Factors That Might Explain Differences in Collections
Why Rates of Collection Differ
Dollar Costs and Returns of Jailings
Jail and Deterrence
7. Why Some Fathers Pay More than Others
A Commonsense Theory of Payments
Payments and Background Characteristics
Effects of Postseparation Events
Effects of Enforcement Efforts
Summary
Part Four - Jail
8. "All Right, Mr. Connors, Bring Up Mr. Neal"
The Jailing Process
The Genesee Enforcement Staff
Enforcement Efforts before Apprehension
Enforcement Efforts Involving a Judicial Appearance
The Power of the Officers
9. The Jailed Men
How Men Who Were Jailed Differed from Men Who Were Not
Effects of Jailing on Payments
Total Returns from Jailing
The Impacts of Long Terms in Jail
10. Justifying the Continued Use of Jail
Part Five - "Food in Their Little Stomachs, Boots in the Wintertime"
11. Alternatives and Limits
Two New Approaches
The Future of Parental Obligations of Support
Methodological Appendix
Appendix of Tables
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index