Exploring Fatherhood Diversity

SUMMARY

Our analysis, grounded in a social constructionist perspective, explores the theoretical and political complexities facing researchers and policymakers as they attempt to conceptualize, study, and promote fathers' involvement with their children. Taking into account the growing diversity of life course and residency patterns for men and children today, we stress how the definition of fatherhood and conceptualization of paternal involvement are interwoven. As our starting point, we highlight how diverse stakeholders construct differing images and types of fatherhood during an era when men are “doing fatherhood” in a wide range of contexts. Next, we explore issues associated with a broad conceptualization of father involvement, influence, and motivation with an eye toward fatherhood diversity. We then consider how several family processes are implicated in the way men develop, negotiate, and sustain their rights, privileges, and obligations as fathers in different types of family structures. We conclude by suggesting how our treatment of these issues can guide future research on fatherhood.     

The morning after Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission report: decolonisation through hybridity,ambivalence and alliance

Abstract

In Canada, 2015 will be remembered for the publication of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report which related to all Canadians the impacts of the Indian residential school system. The Commission invokes the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and uses the term reconciliation as a national strategy for moving forward. This paper employs an autoethnographic methodology and proposes that reconciliation might benefit by finding ways of confronting the Other within; I describe my reflections on a trip to the 2015 conference Learning at Intercultural Intersections at Thompson Rivers University. My social and cultural experiences as a Korean Canadian academic and administrator are challenged in order to consciously shift my own colonising mindset. Reconciliation in Canada will require significant personal, professional, institutional and sociocultural inquiry. What does it mean to discover the Other within? How do we walk with Indigenous peoples? How do educators come to be called ally by Indigenous peoples?     

Meta-Analysis on the Roles of Fathers in Parenting: Are They Unique?

ABSTRACT

A meta-analysis was undertaken, including 34 studies, to determine whether fathers play a unique role in parenting that is different from mothers’ roles. Statistical analyses were done to determine the extent to which the effects of fathering children were distinct from that of mothering. In addition to examining this phenomena overall, the meta-analysis also specifically examined social measurements, psychological indicators, and academic achievement. The possible unique effects of fatherhood were also examined in relation to the age and gender of the child. The results indicate consistent statistically significant effects that emerged for the unique role that fathers have. This association between fathering and the outcome variables held across social measurements, psychological indicators, and academic achievement. This relationship also held for both boys and girls and across age groups. The effects of the unique role of fathering yielded effect sizes of about .14 to .23 of a standard deviation unit.     

Fathering attitudes and behaviors among low-income fathers

ABSTRACT

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a fatherhood intervention designed to improve the fathering attitudes and behaviors of fathers who are low income from metropolitan and rural communities in Louisiana. The study was successful in recruiting a sample of predominantly African American fathers (N = 57) and retaining the participants over time. An adequate number of fathers achieved the intervention goals to obtain employment, increase their earnings, and complete educational (i.e., Graduate Equivalency Diploma [GED]) training. In addition, after having completed the program, there was a statistically significant improvement in fathers’ relationship with the mothers of their children. Additionally, there were increases in fathers’ positive attitudes about being a father, perceived closeness with their children, amount of contact with their children, and satisfaction with the amount of time spent with their children; however, none of these differences were statistically significant. Most of the fathers gave favorable reports regarding the fatherhood program’s goals and delivery.     

The Soul of Fatherhood

SUMMARY

This paper proposes several lenses through which one can look past the obvious roles of fathers and see into the meaning that fatherhood has for our culture. The paper suggests that we are reinventing social fatherhood and redefining what it means to protect. It also describes how the very language of who we are as parents is shifting.     

The work to make an experiment work

ABSTRACT

Contrary to its typical presentation in scientific publications as a certain and linear process, in reality, the experimental method, not least the design aspect of it, requires a great deal of trial-and-error and ad hoc decision-making on the part of the researchers. This uncertain and contingent aspect of research, although little known outside of the circle of experts, has important implications for our understanding of the nature of science and scientific findings.

This paper offers a backstage perspective to experiment design, where the uncertain and contingent nature of experimental research is at its starkest. It draws on insights from the sociological perspective of ethnomethodology through the auto-ethnographic first-hand experience of the first author's own social psychology experiments. Based on detailed lab notes and planning documents on how and why design changes were made, the analysis focuses on the evolution of the experiment design, particularly the researcher’s in situ practical reasoning for how to make the experiment work. From this, we show how ethno-methods shape experiment results and highlight the inseparability of social science experimentation from in situ practical reasoning.     

Intergenerational Transmission of Fathering Roles in At Risk Families

SUMMARY

The purpose of this article is to examine the long-term consequences of paternal involvement for a sample of young men, with the intent being to examine whether patterns of fatherhood are transmitted across generations. Initially, a theoretical framework is discussed that has led researchers to expect that patterns of fatherhood will be produced across generations. Data from the Baltimore Parenthood Study were used, a 30-year longitudinal study that has followed the reproductive patterns of teenage parents and their children. A subsample of 110 males were examined with an occasional reference made to a subsample of females. Results indicated that a strong link existed between the stable presence of a biological father in the histories of the young men and the timing of their own family formation. Early fatherhood, both during the teen years and early twenties, is much more likely to occur if young men did not grow up living with their own fathers. Moreover, early fatherhood is somewhat more likely to occur if the young men did not have a stepfather in the past who was a stable presence in the home. Young fathers also were less likely to be living with their children if their own fathers had not lived in residence with them throughout childhood.     

Paternity leave implementation in Switzerland: a challenge to gendered representations and practices of fatherhood?

Transition to parenthood in Switzerland takes place in a particularly gendered institutional context. It is the only European country where men do not have access to any kind of statutory parental or paternity leaves. This study empirically investigates the extent to which institutional change – through paternity leave implementation at the company level – challenges gendered representations and practices of fatherhood. The study draws on a mixed methods case study conducted in a public administration which implemented a one-month paid paternity leave. Using register data about leave recipients (N = 95), we adopt a longitudinal and typological approach of leave uptake patterns by means of sequence and cluster analyses. In-depth interviews conducted with recipient fathers and managers working for the company (n = 30) enable an analysis of the implementation process and the meanings associated with paternity leave and fatherhood. Results show that paternity leave implementation challenged, in a limited way, gendered representations and practices of fatherhood. Fatherhood was made more visible within the company, but workplace characteristics and informal norms influenced fathers' leave uptake. Overall, motherhood and fatherhood were associated with different and specialized responsibilities. Fathers mainly had a secondary and temporary role with the newborn, while mothers were the central and taken-for-granted parent.     

It All Starts Now! Gay Men and Fatherhood in Sweden

ABSTRACT

This article investigates how Swedish gay men pursue and understand fatherhood, using a qualitative, semi-structured methodological approach. We are interested in how practical issues and different fatherhood arrangements are understood and handled by the fathers; how the construction of “rainbow families” is understood in relation to legal issues; parental responsibilities; and thoughts regarding gender-equal and gender-neutral relationships within Swedish society and culture. The results show that the trajectory of gay men toward fatherhood is shaped by a variety of mediating factors such as interactions with agencies, clinics, attorneys, and the state. There are some significant legal, social, financial, and cultural obstacles to realizing gay parenthood. There are also cases where study participants talked about a sense of intolerance expressed toward gay parents within a gay community. Although there are still strong normative dimensions involved in the construction of modern parenthood, the grip of heteronormative views on family life and sexuality is changing; the narratives presented also represent a questioning of the hegemonic image of fatherhood in Sweden. Consequently, it is possible to discern different attempts at transgressing and changing the cultural landscape of fatherhood and the ways people build families today.     

Keeping the Bar Low: Why Russia’s Nonresident Fathers Accept Narrow Fatherhood Ideals

Although most Russian nonresident fathers feel torn between old and new ideals of fatherhood, they end up accepting older, narrow ideals. Fathers reproduce the dominant gender discourse, which deems men irresponsible and infantile and diminishes the importance of fathers. On the basis of extensive fieldwork, including in‐depth interviews (N = 21) and observational data, I argue that men reproduce minimalist standards of fatherhood because, in part, keeping the bar low enables them to still consider themselves decent fathers. In addition, fathers’ beliefs about the inherent deficiencies of nonresident fatherhood and the increased socioeconomic pressures and loosened constraints surrounding fatherhood in post‐Soviet Russia converge to push fathers to settle for the status quo of detached fatherhood.     

Alef and Shem: Original artwork

Abstract

Artist and scientist Sharon Gershoni presents here two works of her art in different mediums. Alef is a series of drawings made with Japanese sumi ink on washi paper and is a reflection on the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, alef. Shem (Name) is a photograph exposing the symbols and attributes of women in Western art and thought.     

The History of Research on Father Involvement

SUMMARY

Both our understanding and operationalization of fatherhood and father involvement have changed over time. Fatherhood has always been a multifaceted concept, although over time the dominant or defining motif has shifted in turn from moral guidance to breadwinning to sex-role modeling, marital support, and finally nurturance. As a result of these changing concepts, the extent of father involvement has been viewed and indexed in different ways at different times. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, at a time when societal concerns about the effects of fatherlessness were coming to the fore, social scientists also became much more interested in quantification of concepts such as father involvement, motivated in part by the emergence and popularity of time-use methodologies. This prompted a shift from a focus on qualitative dimensions (such as masculinity and dominance) to quantifiable dimensions (the amount of time spent by fathers with their children). This led to a restricted focus on paternal nurturance with little if any attention paid to the other functions or aspects of fatherhood. The narrowly focused view of fatherhood that resulted, ignored subcultural variation in the definition and understanding of fatherhood. Social scientists are only now beginning to seek a broader and more inclusive understanding of fatherhood-efforts that should permit more insightful research on the effects of variations in performance of the relevant roles.     

A Sociohistorical Analysis of Gay Men's Procreative Consciousness

SUMMARY

This qualitative study argues that an understanding of gay men's thoughts about fatherhood must be situated within a socially constructed historical context that is rapidly changing how gay men think about the possibility of creating families. Analysis draws on 39 interviews with gay men about their reproductive decision-making. Two samples of gay men were recruited-19 childless gay men ranging in age from 19–53 years, and 20 gay fathers who became a parent through non-heterosexual means, aged 33–55 years. Findings reveal how gay men's procreative consciousness and fathering desires are intimately tied to the social and historical context by which they came of age. Private thoughts about fatherhood and reproductive decision-making are better understood within a sociohistorical framework that can grasp how institutional relations shape how gay men navigate the reproductive arena.     

Fathers in Prison

ABSTRACT

The parenting roles and responsibilities of incarcerated men have not traditionally been considered an important public concern. The impact of criminal justice policies and practices on family functioning has rarely been addressed by policy makers or family scholars and men's family obligations have not been a priority for the individuals responsible for the safety and security of correctional institutions. Similarly, and with few exceptions, fathers in prison have been out of sight and out of mind of community organizations concerned with family life and children's wellbeing. Several recent developments challenge this historical approach to handling parental incarceration and responsible fatherhood initiatives involving incarcerated fathers are being promoted. This article examines the individual and societal issues that must be addressed if responsible fatherhood among incarcerated men is to become a serious social goal. It presents an overview of the complex family roles and relationships of incarcerated men and describes ways in which individual situations and family preferences affect their ability to function as parents. Analyses of prison location strategies and communication regulations and the post-release environment are used to show how public policies influence and shape family relationships and responsible fatherhood. The article concludes with an agenda for research to guide informed and humane policy decisions.     

Women watching together: An ethnographic study of Korean soap opera fans in the US

To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic of American cultural–legal studies, and it offers in Atticus Finch an iconic hero who, as Stephen Lubet suggests, is popular culture's most important embodiment of lawyerly virtue. As other scholars have noted, however, To Kill a Mockingbird is not just, or primarily, a law story. Rather, Scout Finch's portrait of Atticus as a father is regarded by many as the key to the text's cultural resonance. Told as a daughter's memory of her father, her brother, and the town in which she grew up, the text frames the era's conflicts over race, gender, and justice through the lens of Scout's admiration for Atticus. From our perspective, however, it is the conjunction of lawyer and father that fuels To Kill a Mockingbird’s appeal and importance, and in this paper we argue that such a conjunction, particularly in its filmic incarnation, provides an opportunity to explore the role that fathers and fatherhood play in cultural imaginings of law and in exemplifying the various faces of law's power. We argue that Atticus Finch is a father/lawyer committed to a particular vision of fatherhood and law, one in which both can transcend, if not transform, the context in which they exist, one in which orienting oneself to the future takes precedence over controlling the present, one in which the temporal horizon of law and fatherhood is kept firmly in view. In the figure of Atticus, To Kill a Mockingbird suggests that law and fatherhood are powerful and yet limited in their power, and that both exist in the present but are oriented towards an as yet unrealized future.     

College Health Professionals and Academic Librarians: Collaboration for Student Health

College health professionals must find new ways of educating students on finding and evaluating consumer health information, specifically in the online environment. Librarians are trained as information professionals; however, librarians at general academic libraries are not taking a lead role in providing consumer health information. Objective: The authors' purpose in this research was to determine the health information resource needs of college and university students and provide a model for collaboration between college health professionals and academic librarians. Participants and Methods: The authors compared data from a national survey on college health (N = 54,111) with their own results from a survey of general academic librarians (N = 17) to create recommendations for synching students' reported health information needs with librarians' resources. Results: Although the Internet was students' second most-often consulted health information source, they ranked the believability of online health information above only television. In the librarian survey, although 12 respondents indicated that health information provision is a library's responsibility, the majority (n = 11) believed their library's consumer health outreach to be passive. Conclusions: The authors offer recommendations for partnerships between college healthcare professionals and academic librarians to better provide this information to students.     

Examining the Efficacy of a Brief Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (Brief MBSR) Program on Psychological Health

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the study was to examine potential psychological health benefits of participating in a brief (5-week) mindfulness-based stress reduction (brief MBSR) program integrated into an academic course. Participants: Participants were 119 undergraduate students (treatment: n = 72; control: n = 47) enrolled in elective academic courses on addictive behaviors, between January 2010 and May 2012. Methods: This study employed a quasi-experimental pretest/posttest design comparing changes in psychological health between brief MBSR treatment and parallel control groups. Baseline and follow-up data were collected synchronously across semesters for both groups. Results: Analysis of covariance revealed significant improvements in psychological health, measured by mindfulness (Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale: p ≤ .001; Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Scale: p ≤ .001) and self-compassion (Self-compassion Scale: p ≤ .001), among brief MBSR participants compared with the parallel control cohort. Significant reductions in trait anxiety were not evident. Conclusions: Brief MBSR programs can improve psychological health; however, longer MBSR programs may be needed to improve psychological distress, such as trait anxiety.     

Examining the Relationships Between Resilience,Mental Health,and Academic Persistence in Undergraduate College Students

Abstract

Objective: In this study, the relationships between measures of interpersonal resilience, intrapersonal resilience, and mental health were examined with respect to academic and social integration, key determinants of academic persistence. Participants: A sample (n = 605) of undergraduate students was recruited from 2 midwestern universities during the 2007–2008 academic year. Methods: Hierarchal (or sequential) regression analysis examined whether the inter- and intrapersonal resilience and mental health measures contributed to explaining variance in the response variables of university cumulative grade point average (GPA) and university sense of belonging. Results: The intrapersonal resilience factors contributed to explaining variance in cumulative GPA in addition to aptitude and achievement. Furthermore, there was a strong statistical correlation between the inter- and intrapersonal resilience factors and mental health. Conclusions: The demands in college are significant and there is a need for more research on the concept of resilience as it relates to college health and academic persistence.     

Single Parenthood,Parental Involvement and Students’ Educational Outcomes in Hong Kong

Analyzing data from the Programme for International Student Assessment Hong Kong 2009 and 2012 (n = 7,669), we examined the differences in socioeconomic characteristics of fathers and mothers and levels of parental involvement between two-parent, single-mother, and single-father families in Hong Kong. We found that parents from single-mother and single-father families fare differently in terms of sociodemographic background and parental involvement at home. We also investigated the differences in students’ academic performance among these families. Past studies failed to find any significant effect of single parenthood on students’ academic performance in Hong Kong. We found negative effects of single fatherhood, but not single motherhood, on educational outcomes. The disadvantages of single fatherhood are partially explained by the poorer sociodemographic background and lower levels of parental involvement.     

Public Policies and Father Involvement

SUMMARY

The last two decades have been marked by a series of social and policy developments that are changing both how men see themselves as fathers and how policies conceptualize and encourage their involvement in the lives of children and families. This paper focuses on several areas of intersection between research on fathers and policy. The paper first summarizes the research that led to the current political and social interest in fathers. The paper then describes the Fatherhood Initiative, a set of activities that stemmed from a 1995 memorandum from President Clinton. This Initiative led to coordinated efforts by U.S. Federal Statistical agencies to collect better data about fathers. The paper concludes with a discussion of what we know about the effects on father involvement of policies such as welfare reform, child support, work place policies, responsible fatherhood programs, and other fatherhood interventions. Examples of new programs and initiatives on father involvement are also given.