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This issue of a newsletter for child welfare workers in Colorado describes strategies for developing a rapport with families from other cultures, fathers, and teens. The articles review the importance of client-worker collaboration to the success of assessments and services. Professionals who are working with culturally diverse families are advised to learn about values and experiences from a variety of resources, including parents themselves. Cultural differences should be respected and integrated into treatment when appropriate. Techniques for including fathers in casework include…
The involvement of African American fathers with their children in the child welfare system is explored using findings from a study of 36 noncustodial fathers conducted in Wisconsin from 1999 and 2001 and an Urban Institute's study on permanency for fathers. Results from in-depth interviews with five noncustodial fathers are also highlighted. The need for early identification of paternal family members as permanency resources for children in foster care is emphasized, and promising practices for locating and involving noncustodial fathers are shared. A federal initiative to support and…
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Journal Article The purpose of this study was to explore the relation between self-esteem, sociodemographic factors, father-daughter relationships, and sexual risk-taking in an economically diverse group of late-adolescent African American girls. Participants were 100 African American adolescent girls from the Southeast region of the U.S. Regression analyses revealed that fathers' education was the most powerful predictor of sexual risk, with self-esteem emerging as a significant, yet less powerful predictor. A subset of the initial sample participated in a secondary, qualitative study explicitly examining…
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Journal Article This qualitative study gives voice to Latino fathers' perceptions of their roles and values in family life by analyzing data collected from 32 Latino men residing in an Urban Mexican setting and both urban and rural settings in the U.S. The authors utilize a symbolic interactionist framework and ecological theory to illustrate the cultural nature of fatherhood constructions, the impact of immigration on patterns of change and continuity in paternal behaviors and values, and the importance of intergenerational influences in the formation of fatherhood perceptions. Fathers articulate the…
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Journal Article Social services in multicultural societies often assist families in cultural transitions. These processes are seen as carrying potential risks and threats for families and children. Studies primarily examine immigration as a complex transition that affects the stability and continuity of family roles. This study focuses on the impact of immigration on the role of fathers. Moving away both from the risk theory of immigration and the deficit theory of fatherhood, this study focuses rather on the systemic barriers and obstacles facing immigrant fathers in their new country and the positive…
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Journal Article Gender role development was assessed in 52 father-absent and 54 father-present African American adolescents. Father-present boys, especially those from lower-income backgrounds, had higher perceptions of their masculinity than did father-absent boys. Lower income father-absent girls perceived themselves to be higher in masculinity than did all other girls. Consequently, father-present adolescents tended to have more traditional gender role orientations than did those in father-absent homes. It is argued that mothers' and fathers' different socializing strategies balance out in two-parent…
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Journal Article Most immigration studies focus on the negative consequences of immigration for families and for parenting. Immigration is also viewed as a factor that undermines fathers' capacity to implement their fathering roles. The impact of immigration on fathers has received very little attention. This paper is based on 54 interviews with immigrant fathers to Canada and Israel. Based on qualitative data, the paper investigates immigrant fathers' perceptions of fatherhood in the midst of cultural change. This paper challenges the widely held notion that immigration itself is a risk factor for fatherhood…
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Journal Article Much of the literature on African American fathers has tended to perpetuate a stereotype of absent and unsupportive parenting. This study employs a life course perspective to investigate the extent and predictors of involvement by young fathers. Data come from the Rochester Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study that has followed a representative sample of urban youth since they were in the seventh or eighth grade. Analysis is based on the young men in the sample who became fathers by age 22, of whom 67% are African American. Results suggest that African American fathers do not differ…
This book explores barriers facing disadvantaged young men and policies that can be implemented to improve the educational and employment opportunities available to disconnected young men, particularly African American and Hispanic young men. It specifically focuses on the following areas of policy: enhancing education, training, and employment opportunities for disadvantaged youth by focusing on individual policy components and on building these components into community systems; improving the incentives of less-skilled young workers to accept employment by raising minimum wages or…
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Journal Article A developmental ecological model was used to identify child attributes, father characteristics, and familial factors associated with multidimensional father involvement with preschool children enrolled in Head Start. The relations between father involvement and children's school readiness were also investigated. Eighty-five African American fathers and father figures were surveyed about their involvement in child care, home-based educational and school-based educational activities. Children's school readiness competencies were evaluated via teacher report or direct assessment. Father…
