red dot icon
Journal Article This State Legislative Report examines the special problems associated with establishing paternity and collecting child support from teenage parents. The report reviews public policy options for legislators and is divided into three major sections: establishing paternity, child support enforcement, and state legislative policy and program responses. Paternity establishment and child support enforcement are particularly difficult with the teenage population. Establishing paternity can be a problem because teenage mothers often refuse to cooperate with state child support enforcement personnel…
red dot icon
Journal Article Twenty-five years after the founding of Head Start, the nation's most politically successful program for young children has discovered men. The Department of Health and Human Services is using Head Start as the centerpiece of its "male initiative" to increase the involvement of fathers and other males in the lives of young children. This review, which synthesizes relevant literature on child development, parent involvement, and service delivery, offers a set of guidelines that policymakers can use to increase the likelihood that male involvement with preschool education at the national or…
red dot icon
Journal Article The study of teen parenthood has become almost synonymous with the study of teen mothers, but relatively little research attention has been devoted to the study of teenage fathers. Nevertheless, because it appears that becoming a teenage father has negative developmental consequences for both the teen father and his children, it is an important area of inquiry. This article uses data from the Rochester Youth Development Study, an ongoing panel study of urban youth, to identify early risk factors for the likelihood of becoming a teen father. The study is well suited to this task because the…
red dot icon
Journal Article Using data from a longitudinal study of employed women before and after pregnancy, the authors look at 490 married mothers of infants working full time to determine the relationship of husband supportiveness to their well-being. A substantial relationship was found between perceptions of husband supportiveness and women's reports of their well-being However, although most respondents reported that their husbands were supportive, they did not report high levels of concrete help from them. (Author abstract)
red dot icon
Journal Article Most previous research documenting the frequent abandonment by fathers of contact with their children has been based on survey responses of custodial mothers. The present survey of 220 divorcing couples revealed that the noncustodial parents reported significantly more visits with their children, as well as significantly more denial of visitation by their ex-spouses, than did the custodial parents. (Author abstract)
red dot icon
Journal Article This 2-year longitudinal study of 121 6 to 12-year-old children in the custody of their mothers following parental separation examined main and interacting effects of child's age and gender, frequency and regularity of visitation, father-child closeness, and parental legal conflict on children's self-esteem and behavioral adjustment at two time points. Predictors were found to have different implications for different groups of children and for children in different situations. Findings suggest the futility of seeking simple answers as to whether ongoing contact with fathers following divorce…
red dot icon
Journal Article The author maintains that too little effort has been exerted by health, social work, and education professionals in the arena of out-of-wedlock births to speak for the economic and psychological benefits that attach to the child's right to legal paternity. In the large majority of instances, no paternity adjudication is sought, and these children are deprived of their rights. (Author abstract)
red dot icon
Journal Article Recent studies on the birth father have largely concentrated on his commitment to the birth mother and the child, but little is known about how members of the adoption triad view him and his role as parent. The author presents the findings of a three-year study that examined the attitudes of the members of the adoption triangle toward the birth father's right of access to identifying information on adoptees. The data show that the respondents were amenable to granting access rights to the birth mother but rejected similar rights for the birth father. Adoptees were largely amnesic about the…
red dot icon
Journal Article In 1983 black adolescent mothers have accounted for nearly one in four births. The social work response has been limited in scope and routinely has excluded the partners of young mothers. Until recently, service providers viewed black adolescent fathers either as a cause of the problem of as a partial solution in their assigned role as a financial provider. This article looks at the need to focus more attention on the well being of black adolescent males as a means of providing more support for the whole family. The authors stress that the well-being of black males is threatened in several…
red dot icon
Journal Article The role of the birth father in adoption is debated by lawyers, adoption professionals, and members of the adoption triad. At issue is how best to involve the birth father in the adoption plan while respecting the feelings of the birth mother, prospective adoptive couple, and rights of the child. This article examines emotional, legal and practice issues related to a birth father in adoption and implications for the perinatal social worker. A birth father is a significant part of the adoption triad with legal rights and responsibilities. He may offer support to the birth mother during labor…
