Other
This set of three slide presentations shares findings on the effectiveness of home visiting programs in engaging fathers. The first presentation discusses findings from a study that reviewed research on programs and services to support fathers, including the use of home visiting programs. It found home-visiting programs for fathers are uncommon but may be increasing, most programs are an expansion of services offered to mothers and children, programs may have difficulty convincing families and staff that the programs are for men, and that there is insufficient research to evaluate the…
red dot icon
Journal Article Interpersonal relationships constitute the foundation on which human society is based. The infant?caregiver bond is the earliest and most influential of these relationships. Driven by evolutionary pressure for survival, parents feel compelled to provide care to their biological offspring. However, compassion for non-kin is also ubiquitous in human societies, motivating individuals to suppress their own self-interests to promote the well-being of non-kin members of the society. We argue that the process of early kinship-selective parental care provides the foundation for non-exclusive altruism…
red dot icon
Journal Article This article develops an account of the emotional dimension of minimally decent parenting, with reference to the capability approach to thinking about need. It outlines social interests at stake in ensuring children's healthy emotional development, and evaluates public policy implications of its account of children's emotional needs. Proposals to license parents are rejected in favor of increased public education around the needs of children and the demands of parenting, increased public recognition of the need for social supports for parenting, and more diffused social responsibility for…
red dot icon
Journal Article This article develops an account of the emotional dimension of minimally decent parenting, with reference to the capability approach to thinking about need. It outlines social interests at stake in ensuring children's healthy emotional development, and evaluates public policy implications of its account of children's emotional needs. Proposals to license parents are rejected in favor of increased public education around the needs of children and the demands of parenting, increased public recognition of the need for social supports for parenting, and more diffused social responsibility for…
red dot icon
Journal Article This article first introduces some main ideas behind culture and parenting and next addresses philosophical rationales and methodological considerations central to cultural approaches to parenting, including a brief account of a cross-cultural study of parenting. It then focuses on universals, specifics, and distinctions between form (behavior) and function (meaning) in parenting as embedded in culture. The article concludes by pointing to social policy implications as well as future directions prompted by a cultural approach to parenting. (Author abstract)
red dot icon
Journal Article The Family Transitions Project began in 1989 to see how rural families in Iowa were coping with the severe economic downturn in agriculture at that time. In this report we show that cohort members who were treated harshly by their parents tended to emulate these behaviors with their children. However, if they coparented with a partner who demonstrated a warm and supportive parenting style, intergenerational continuity was disrupted. (Author abstract)
red dot icon
Journal Article Emotions are complex processes that are essential for survival and adaptation. Recent studies of children and animals are shedding light on how the developing brain learns to rapidly respond to signals in the environment, assess the emotional significance of this information, and in so doing adaptively regulate subsequent behavior. Here, I describe studies of children and nonhuman primates who are developing within emotionally aberrant environments. Examining these populations provides new insights on the ways in which the social or interpersonal contexts of parenting may influence…
red dot icon
Journal Article Parenting is best understood from within a framework of person/context influence and interaction. Four themes from the articles are discussed. First, a multilevel perspective allows us to integrate across two nested structures: the biological and cognitive systems nested within individuals and the way in which individuals are nested within complex social environments. Second, the biological and cognitive pathways that underlie behavioral continuities across the life course are discussed. Third, intergenerational influences involve both mediating and moderating mechanisms. Fourth, one of the…
Sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Building Strong Families (BSF) evaluation used a random assignment research design to test eight voluntary programs that offer relationship skills education and other support services to unwed couples who are expecting or have just had a baby. After three years, the study showed that BSF had no effect on the quality of couples' relationships and did not make them more likely to stay together or get married. (Author abstract)
Sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Building Strong Families (BSF) evaluation used a random assignment research design to test eight voluntary programs that offer relationship skills education and other support services to unwed couples who are expecting or have just had a baby. After three years, the study showed that BSF had no effect on the quality of couples' relationships and did not make them more likely to stay together or get married. (Author abstract)
