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Journal Article
This study uses early descriptive data from the National Evaluation of Welfare to Work Strategies (NEWWS) Child Outcome Study, a sub-study of the larger random assignment evaluation of the Federal JOBS program, to answer two timely and important questions. First, what factors predict father involvement among nonresident fathers of young children who receive welfare? And second, is nonresident father involvement associated with better outcomes for these children? The three measures of nonresident father involvement examined are father-child visitation, formal child support payments received…
Brief
This information sheet discusses the balance fathers need to find between work obligations and family responsibilities, and proposes a new perspective that integrates career choices with family involvement. Key considerations that fathers should think about are listed, along with actions fathers can take to make sure they are balancing work and family, criteria for evaluating a family-friendly workplace, and tips for connecting with children.
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Journal Article
A cohort study was conducted to examine the association between father involvement and child neglect. Participants were recruited from an inner-city pediatric primary care clinic and a clinic for children at risk for human immunodeficiency virus infection in a teaching hospital. Child neglect was measured via home observation, a videotaped mother-child interaction, and child protective services reports. A father or father figures was identified for 27 percent of the 244 five-year-old children participating in the study. Rates of neglect ranged between 11 percent and 30 percent. Father absence…
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Journal Article
The facilitation of a positive relationship between the children of abused women and the perpetrator of the violence is extremely complex in the light of the potential danger for women and children and the conflicting needs, interests, and rights of different family members. Nevertheless, social service agencies can no longer ignore the role of abusive men as fathers. Holding men accountable for their children's well being may, under certain conditions, contribute to the healthier emotional development of affected children. This article critically discusses this controversial issue by…
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Journal Article
Until the early 1980s, the needs of young fathers went largely unnoticed by policy makers and social service providers. Many programs for adolescent fathers originally started in order to benefit teenage mothers and their children (Leitch et al., 1993). It was later recognized that young fathers also need assistance to successfully become productive and responsible adults (Robinson, 1988; Leitch et al., 1993; Kiselica, 1995). Program designs have been based on a set of implicit assumptions: 1) if programs are offered, young fathers will enroll; 2) the services will meet the needs of…
Brief
With advice to fathers ranging from how to speak to toddlers so that they listen, to how to avoid gender stereotyping in young children, to how to maintain a connection with teenagers, FatherNeed is a resource for all dads -- including divorced fathers, fathers of adopted children, stepfathers, and fathers of special-needs children -- as well as moms who want kids who are meaningfully connected to their fathers. (Author abstract, modified)
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Journal Article
Using in-depth interviews and a purposive sample of 32 men ages 16-30 who have not yet fathered a child, our grounded theory study examined how men envision aspects of fatherhood. Informed by symbolic interactionist and life course perspectives, our interpretive data analyses yielded two interrelated substantive dimensions: fatherhood readiness and fathering visions. We introduce five interrelated theoretical themes to sharpen our understanding of these dimensions, and discuss how these dimensions and themes inform interventions aimed at heightening young men's procreative responsibility. (…
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Journal Article
This qualitative study uses family observations and semi-structured interviews with 23 women to explore the relationship management work of building and maintaining father-child relationships. Five women indicated they did not engage in any efforts to enhance father-child relationships; 18 women reported doing some type of father-child relationship management work, although the extent of such efforts appeared to vary among these women. Several strategies to facilitate positive father-child involvement were identified: offering suggestions for joint father-child activities, relaying…
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Journal Article
Throughout the 1990s, scholars interested in fatherhood have generated a voluminous, rich, and diverse body of work. We selectively review this literature with an eye toward prominent theoretical, methodological, and substantive issues. This burgeoning literature, complemented by social policy makers' heightened interest in fathers and families, focuses on fatherhood in at least 4 key ways. First, theorists have studied fatherhood as a cultural representation that is expressed through different sociocultural processes and embedded in a larger ecological context. Second, researchers have…
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Journal Article
Until the early 1980s, the needs of young fathers went largely unnoticed by policy makers and social service providers. Many programs for adolescent fathers originally started in order to benefit teenage mothers and their children (Leitch et al., 1993). It was later recognized that young fathers also need assistance to successfully become productive and responsible adults (Robinson, 1988; Leitch et al., 1993; Kiselica, 1995). Program designs have been based on a set of implicit assumptions: 1) if programs are offered, young fathers will enroll; 2) the services will meet the needs of…
