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Journal Article As the male prison population increases, so too does the number of children with fathers in prison. The negative impact of fatherlessness on children has been well documented. While parenting education is often seen as an effective tool to improve the quality of family relationships and foster positive outcomes for children, fathers in prison frequently are ignored or excluded from parenting programs. This mixed method study examined the impact of short term parenting education on fathers in prison who were enrolled in a 3-day parenting class. A simple experimental design was coupled with…
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Journal Article We identify multiple predictors of five types of father involvement in 167 low- to moderate-income two-parent Mexican American families with fifth-grade children. Analyses show that fathers' egalitarian gender attitudes and mothers' education are associated with higher levels of father involvement. Fathers are more involved in monitoring and interacting with children when families place more emphasis on family rituals, they are more involved in supervising children when mothers are employed more hours, and they perform more housework when mothers earn more and the family is under economic…
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Journal Article Using data from the June 1980 Current Population Survey, Morgan, Lye, and Condran (1988) reported that families with a daughter have a higher divorce risk than families with a son. They attribute this finding to the higher involvement of fathers in raising a son, which in turn promotes marital stability. We investigate the relation between gender composition of children and parents' divorce risk with cross-national data from the Fertility and Family Survey. These data, which cover 16 European countries, Canada, and the United States, do not support a general hypothesis that sons contribute…
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Journal Article This study examined social-emotional variables and parenting views of fathers of infants born to adolescent mothers. A convenience sample consisted of 15 fathers of infants born to adolescent mothers, 15 age-matched non-parenting male peers, and 15 adolescent mothers. Both quantitative and qualitative measures were used. Although results showed significant differences between fathers and peers and between fathers and adolescent mothers, the fathers and adolescent mothers were more alike than the fathers and peers. Although the majority of fathers and peers view parenthood as increased…
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Journal Article This qualitative study represents one of the first efforts to examine how African American fathers protect their children from community violence. Eighteen African American biological and "social" fathers of preschoolers in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area participated in focus groups addressing parenting in violent neighborhoods. Fathers described seven protective strategies reflecting three major themes: monitoring children, educating children about safety, and improving community life. These strategies are discussed within the context of African American values, traditions, and…
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Journal Article The articles in this issue of The Prevention Researcher highlight findings about the involvement of teen fathers in the lives of their children and the link between teen fatherhood and delinquent behavior. Studies cited in the journal indicate that father involvement depends primarily on the relationship between the child's parents. Fathers who resided with their child's mother or who maintained a good relationship with her had greater contact with their children. Other influences included ethnocultural socialization, family history, relationships with the mother's family, and welfare reform…
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Journal Article This article reviews a protocol on locating and involving absent fathers in child protective proceedings under Michigan law. It explains how to distinguish legal, equitable, and putative fathers under the law, steps for Family Independence Agency caseworkers to take to establish legal fatherhood, and putative father hearings in child protective proceedings. The application of the presumption of legitimacy to child protective proceedings under Michigan law is explored, and key State court cases are cited. 67 references.
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Journal Article The authors of this article discuss customizing parent education which requires customized assessment. At Auburn University, Kreg Edgmon and Wally Goddard developed a parent assessment based on the National Extension Parent Education Model (NEPEM) (Smith, Cudaback, Goddard, & Myers-Walls, 1994). All items in the parent assessment were tested with professional parenting educators across the country. This resulted in a pool of almost 500 parent assessment items. About 30 items were selected for each of the 6 dimensions of NEPEM. Computer programmers at the University of Arkansas Cooperative…
This fact sheet includes a set of website links designed to assist individuals in mentoring efforts targeting children of prisoners. Links are provided for information on the Mentoring Children of Prisoners Initiative; general mentoring resources; and children of prisoners related resources, including links for information on partnerships, grants, faith-based programs, publications, legal advice, and training; and grant writing tutorials.
This fact sheet explores parental employment in low-income families and policies that can support low-income families. Findings from the research reviewed indicates 55% of all children in low-income families have at least one parent who works full-time and year-round; almost half (44%) of low-income parents with no employment reported they were not working because they were taking care of their families; and low-income parents who work are more likely to be employed in service occupations in which the are not only likely to have lower earnings and fewer opportunities for full-time employment…
