Unpublished Paper
The negative effects of incarceration on child well-being are often linked to the economic insecurity of formerly incarcerated parents. Researchers caution, however, that the effects of parental incarceration may be small in the presence of multiple partner fertility and other family complexity. Despite these claims, few studies directly observe either economic insecurity or the full extent of family complexity. We study parent-child relationships with a unique data set that includes detailed information about economic insecurity and family complexity among parents just released from prison.…
Unpublished Paper
Housing tenure has typically been conceptualized as a dichotomous indicator of homeownership versus renting. This study expands that indicator to include families who are doubled up (living with others to share the cost of housing), an important private safety net for low-income families. Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n=4,376), we examine the role of family structure and social support, socioeconomic status, health and wellbeing indicators, prior incarceration, and race/ethnicity on housing tenure for low-income urban fathers. Our analysis…
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Training Materials
The educator guide is for adults who work with middle- and high-school aged males and features activities that be used in and out of classroom settings. The guide contains a number of writing and spoken word exercises centered around Black male demographics, the prison industrial complex, and more. (Author abstract)
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Training Materials
The BYAG discussion guide contains strategies to engage in programming related to Black men and boys, discussion topics, bios of the men in the film, suggested opportunities to volunteer in your community, letters from the filmmakers, and a resource section. (Author abstract)
Unpublished Paper
The purpose of this study was to examine the direct, mediating, and moderating effects of nonresident fathers' involvement on children's development in poor and near-poor African American single-mother families, using a longitudinal dataset from the first three waves of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. Based on Bronfenbrenner's (1988) person-process-context ecological model, this study investigated whether nonresident fathers' involvement with poor and near-poor single mothers and their children would be associated with the mothers' parenting and the children's behavioral and…
Unpublished Paper
In this study, I interviewed 57 low-income urban fathers about how they distribute resources between children, how they define responsible fatherhood and how they negotiate state surveillance. First, using queuing theory, I find that these fathers do not distribute their resources of time and money equally but instead give more of their resources to a smaller number of children in order to maximize their impact. I identify nine criteria that men use to prioritize among their children: timing of life course interruptions, distance, formal child support, desirability of the pregnancy,…
Training Materials, Other
This DVD and workshop guide are designed to be used to with young parents or teens who are not yet parents. The DVD features a 28-minute documentary on young fathers and seven teachable moment clips from the film that are 1 to 7 minutes each. The documentary focuses on two young fathers and highlights the needs and circumstances of many low-income fathers, including those who have been involved with the criminal justice system. It addresses the challenges of early parenthood, the role of fathers in their children's lives, the need to build solid co-parenting relationships, and attitudes about…
Unpublished Paper
The success of welfare reform will depend on the existing capabilities of low-income parents, the stability of the parents' relationship and desire for father involvement, and the effects of local policies on parental relationships and child well being. These factors can be assessed with information from the current Fragile Families and Child Well-being study on unwed parents, which is following 3,675 children born to unmarried parents and 1,125 children born to married parents in 21 cities with different welfare policies and systems. The results of the study will demonstrate whether strict…
