The following is a list of suggestions that you can use to maintain the attachment to your children from inside a prison. (Author abstract)
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Journal Article Although research increasingly focuses on non-resident biological fathers, little attention has been given to the role of other men in children s lives. The authors examine the factors associated with social father presence and their influence on preschoolers development. Findings indicate that the majority of children have a social father and that mother, child, and nonresident biological father characteristics are all related to social father presence. These associations differ depending on whether the social father is the mother s romantic partner or a male relative. The social father s…
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Journal Article In Western societies, mothering and fathering are generally conceptualized as distinct social roles, marriage being considered as the institution which provides the best framework for child-rearing (nuclear family model). Yet it is important that health care practitioners recognize that children can be successfully raised in very diverse types of family organizations, including extended female-headed families. Although at first sight the extended family model appears to be lacking in male models and therefore seems to be defective, this article asserts that functional extended matrifocal…
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Journal Article This article documents the changes in men's experience of living with their own children. Data are drawn from seven Current Population Surveys (1965-1995) to identify trends in the likelihood of living with children, cohort differences in the experience of living with many children or with preschool age children, the timing of living with children, and variations in patterns by race and level of education. The data indicate that men's experience of living with children declined dramatically across cohorts. Residency with children decreased by 66 percent for men aged 20 to 24 and by 57 percent…
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Journal Article Recognizing that most poor families are single-parent families, the federal welfare reform law of 1996 emphasized the responsibility of both parents to support their children. In addition to strengthening the child support enforcement system, the law included several provisions designed to decrease childbearing outside of marriage and to promote two-parent families. This article focuses on the important role that fathers play in children's lives and how public policies have affected childbearing and father involvement. Key observations are: Compared with children living with both biological…
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Journal Article Despite research that substantiates the importance of father involvement in children's lives, family-centered child welfare services continue to be oriented toward the child's mother. This newsletter from the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice explains how child welfare services can engage fathers in the lives of their children. The articles suggest strategies such as family conferencing, support services, and outreach to fathers in prison or on parole. The findings from research about the positive and negative aspects of father involvement are discussed.…
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Journal Article What are the key factors that influence the health and development of children? Researchers have tried to answer this question for many years by looking at the role of the child's mother, the school, and the neighborhood, among other factors. Until recently, the role of fathers in their children's lives has been mostly overlooked. If the contribution of fathers was studied, the focus was often on white, middle-class families. Few studies in the past have addressed the role of fathers in disadvantaged or at-risk families. When examining the antecedents and effects of child maltreatment, it is…
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Journal Article John O'Donnell conducted this study to increase knowledge about casework practice with biological fathers of children who are in the child welfare system. The study was based on data gathered from caseworkers in two private agencies' kinship foster care programs. As O'Donnell states, "Kinship foster care was considered a particularly opportune child welfare service in which to study practice for two reasons. First, the use of relatives as foster parents for maltreated children has increased significantly in the past decade. In some states, such as Illinois, kinship foster home placements…
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Journal Article To successfully engage fathers, workers need training to dispel many of the myths related to "absent fathers" believed by not only case managers but society as a whole. It is our job to create a safe environment for the children as well as the parents. Case managers need adequate training that will give them the skills to build respect and trust between the child welfare system and fathers. Agency staff--from directors to case aides--need to increase the focus on the importance of improving the father-child relationship and the benefits to the child. To better meet the needs of children in…
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Journal Article To support better outcomes for families and children "My Baby's Father," uses a family systems approach and concrete skill development as a way to increase male involvement. The training we use in the program is based on the Enriched Structural Family Therapy (ESFT) model, which is an original family systems approach to strengthening families. ESFT is strengths-oriented, solution-focused, skills based and culturally sensitive. The model encourages a systemic perspective of families and helps child welfare workers to focus on solutions, not problems and pathology.
