In 1993, the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) published a 61-page review of Army family research entitled What We Know About Army Families. This report summarized research findings from approximately 70 studies on American military families and the implications of that research for Army policymakers, program managers, unit leaders, and supervisors. The goal of What We Know About Army Families was to disseminate research-based information and recommendations about Soldiers and their families throughout the Army community to help strengthen retention,…
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Journal Article Theory and research suggest that the transition to parenthood is a major life transition, and that adaptation to the parenting role is influenced by a complex set of factors, including the relationship with the child's mother, family of origin, and how the father is situated within sociocultural contexts. The father-mother relationship is particularly important for men making the transition to fatherhood. This study examined patterns of fathering among young fathers (15?24 years) and investigated how fathers' relationships with the mothers of their young children (infants and toddlers) were…
This 80-page report examines the health and well-being of Minnesota's fathers and families. The report includes an introduction that examines the importance of fatherhood, statistics about Minnesota's fathers, and recommendations for promoting healthy fatherhood. (Author abstract)
In this paper I review Daniel Patrick Moynihan's views on employment and young black men in his 1965 report. I then update the evidence on their employment status, and review the causes and policy implications of these trends. Moynihan was extremely prescient in forecasting a "crisis...that would only grow worse." He understood that these trends involve both limits on labor market opportunities that these young men face as well as skill deficits and behavioral responses by the young men themselves. Policies that deal with a wide range of disadvantages and behaviors are needed to reverse these…
This chapter explores the influence of race and ethnicity as a factor for fathers of color. It discusses issues affecting fathers of color in America today, similarities and differences among fathers of color, contributions of Latino and African American fathers in the lives of their children, and potential hurdles some fathers of color may face in being involved fathers. Suggestions to help others understand and appreciate the contributions made by fathers of color are presented. 70 references.
We examine the consequences of incarceration for non-resident White, Latino, and African American fathers' contact with children and their formal and informal child support agreements. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we found that fathers' current incarceration presented serious obstacles to maintaining contact with children and interfered with the establishment of informal financial support agreements with mothers. Recent and past incarceration were strongly and negatively associated with how often non-Latino White fathers saw their children, while having a…
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Journal Article We identify and discuss mothers' early strategies to recruit nonresidential biological fathers, intimate partners, male family members and friends, and paternal kin to support the needs of young children in low-income families. Using the concept of kinscription and longitudinal ethnographic data on 149 African American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White families from Welfare, Children and Families: A Three-City Study, we developed a model of recruitment that includes three related processes: the search for legitimacy with conventional fathers and partners, the consequences of maternal advocacy…
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Journal Article To further examine culture-specific patterns of paternal involvement in childcare, assessments were made of fathers' and mothers' perceptions of their involvement in caring for and stimulating infants in 41 urban Kadazan families in Sabah, Malaysia. Mothers exceeded fathers in the amount of time they spent in cleaning, feeding, and playing with infants and in their levels of engagement in direct care of infants. With the exception of feeding and singing, fathers and mothers reported engaging in similar amounts of care and stimulation of infant boys and girls. The results are discussed in the…
This paper examines the consequences of incarceration for non-resident White, Latino, and African American fathers' contact with children and their formal and informal child support agreements three years after the child's birth. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, fathers' current incarceration is found to present serious obstacles to maintaining contact with children, as well as to interfere with the establishment of informal but not formal financial support agreements with mothers. The effects of past incarceration, however, vary significantly by race and…
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Journal Article The salience of spirituality in African American family life is well documented. However, less is known about the role of spirituality in the parenting styles and practices of African American fathers generally or among those fathers rearing children in under-resourced, high-violence neighborhoods. African American families are disproportionately represented in communities characterized by violence, crime, and drug activity. This study explores how fathers residing in these neighborhoods rear their preschool sons and daughters and how spirituality relates to their fathering practices and…
