The extent to which men are beginning to enact new, more flexible models of masculinity remains an empirical question. What we do know is that many men continue to adhere rigidly to traditional gender role ideologies, which have been consistently linked to a range of negative physical and psychological outcomes (Berger, Addis, Green, Mackowiak, & Goldberg, 2013; Levant & Richmond, 2007; O'Neil, 2008). Although these trends continue, there is one area of men’s lives where such changes have been visible, quantifiable, and widespread: fathering. Such shifts, the focus of the current…
Since the late 1970s and early 1980s, the psychological study of masculinity and the practice of gender-sensitive approaches to psychotherapy with boys and men has gradually become a specialty area within psychology. Recognizing that masculinity is a central aspect of men’s lives, psychologists began to study the male socialization process, socially prescribed notions of masculinity, and the psychological and social problems of boys and men (Englar-Carlson, 2006). Within this movement, a group of pioneering psychologists developed the gender role strain paradigm (GRSP) as a framework for the…
We begin with an overview of men’s participation in the workforce and their distribution across occupations. We briefly review vocational theories, and the limited research on men within those theoretical perspectives. We then review the research in men’s nontraditional careers, including studies that have investigated men who choose to be stay-at-home fathers. We also review the literature on men’s work–family interface, including their work–family and family–work conflicts. Finally, we discuss the research on men and career counseling. The latter is often a non-threatening entry for men…
This guide begins by explaining Getting To Outcomes® (GTO) is a user-friendly process for comprehensive planning, implementation guidance, and evaluation of programs and community initiatives. It is a ten-step process that guides the user through the key tasks needed to make any program a success. It then presents information for using the GTO process to implement teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) programs. The guide provides background information on teen sexual health and tips for using the GTO guide for TPP programs. Following sections provide instructions for completing the ten steps that…
This e-book contains eight ideas about how practitioners can apply the latest social science research on cognition and behavior to their program or any work they do with dads. Each area of research is explained in its own chapter in easy-to-understand terms, followed by simple examples and tips for applyingthis research to work with fathers. Additional resources are included at the end ofeach chapter (e.g., websites and books) that will increase knowledge in each area.
This chapter describes the Family Life Project, a large-scale longitudinal study that chronicles the lives of African American and non-African American children and their families living in two poor rural areas of the US: Appalachia and the Black South. The breadth of the Family Life Project data allows us to expand the previous literature on rural poverty and to highlight the notion that the effects of poverty are not limited to low levels of income, but are rather fused with several “correlated constraints” that co-occur with poverty: low maternal education, low job prestige, non-standard…
In this chapter, I argue that scholars, social service providers, policy makers, and others who critically engage the topic of African American fatherhood, must attend to two concepts that highlight under-treated dimensions of that role: vulnerability and safe space. Vulnerability, a product of anxiety, uncertainty, and unfamiliarity, is a condition affecting many socio-economically disadvantaged African American fathers. These men also function without access to safe space, or public and/or institutionalized space that would allow them the opportunity to better realize, express, and address…
