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Journal Article The researchers examined childhood family structure, age, and race/ethnicity as correlates of paternal relationships using the Father Presence Questionnaire. The sample consisted of 788 adult women aged 18 to 88 years from ethnically diverse backgrounds. The most consistent finding was the effect of family structure on participants' evaluations of their paternal relationships. Father absence because of divorce or separation produced less favorable evaluations on every scale and within every racial/ethnic category; however, when father's absence was attributable to death before 18 years, a…
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Journal Article I interviewed 57 low-income fathers about how they define responsible fatherhood. Unlike findings from previous research, their definition did not include financial provision or daily caregiving. Instead, their definition included six dimensions, some of which resemble a "Big Brother": spending time in non-caregiving activities; avoiding harm by voluntarily distancing from the child when it is in the child's best interest; acknowledging paternity in non-legal forums; spending money on gifts, joint activities, and special needs; monitoring the child's home for trouble; and minimizing absences…
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Journal Article In the United States, multipartnered fertility (MPF) has become commonplace. This study provides the first nationally representative measures of women's MPF, across multiple years, using the U.S. Census Bureau's Surveys of Income and Program Participation. Because welfare rules contain strong incentives for MPF, and because MPF is especially common among welfare recipients, the authors also examine the relationship between welfare and MPF. Focusing on the pre-TANF period 1985 to 1996, when welfare rules were more comparable across states and the absence of time limits made the incentives for…
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Journal Article To reach a greater understanding of the early father-child attachment relationship, this study examined concurrent and longitudinal associations among father involvement, paternal sensitivity, and father-child attachment security at 13 months and 3 years of age. Analyses revealed few associations among these variables at 13 months of age, but involvement and sensitivity independently predicted father-child attachment security at age 3. Moreover, sensitivity moderated the association between involvement and attachment security at 3 years. Specifically, involvement was unrelated to attachment…
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Journal Article This autoethnography describes my experiences as a doctoral student in a communication program and the father of a young child. In particular, this manuscript focuses on my struggles to maintain a sense of balance between the seemingly oppositional "callings" of fatherhood and academe. Using Rambo's (Ronai, 1992) "layered account," I weave together a series of scenes from my experience as a new parent and graduate student during the last two years. The story moves back and forth through time and is written from a variety of perspectives and roles, including father, graduate student, husband,…
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Journal Article Background: Many rural children in China have been experiencing life without fathers since the 1990s, when their fathers left the rural areas for the urban areas to find a job that would allow them to continue to support their family. However, to date, knowledge and understanding of the effects of the absence of fathers and timing of separation on the mental health of adolescents are limited. Methods: A total of 2233 students, ranging in age from 11 to 23 years, from five provinces of China, including 1024 adolescents who experienced the absence of their fathers, were recruited for this study…
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Journal Article Drawing from an ethnographically-informed study of men's identities and social relations in prison, this article explores the ways in which ideas about fatherhood are institutionally deployed and personally experienced. Based on interviews and observational data in a young offender institution ( YOI) for 18- to 21-year-old men, the article considers young men's orientations toward being a father and their participation in parenting classes and a ' Fathers Inside' group. Four vignettes are constructed to present an account of some of the issues surrounding men's experience of prison, being a…
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Journal Article The integration of School Systems in K-12, opens new possibilities for online interaction among teachers, students, and their parents. This paper examines three years of teacher-student and teacher-parent online interactions in seven Israeli secondary schools during the implementation of a school system called Mashov (meaning "feedback" in Hebrew, as well as the acronym of "Immediacy, Transparency, and Supervision"). The three hypotheses were supported: (1) Consistent with the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (), findings revealed that implementation time positively influence both logging into…
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Journal Article This study examined relationships between masculinity ideologies, perceived discrimination, and parenting behaviors on depressive symptoms and drinking behavior among 332 nonresident African-American fathers. Masculinity ideologies also were examined as moderators of perceived discrimination and parenting behaviors on outcomes. Results from hierarchical regression analyses showed that culturally based traditional masculinity was associated with less depressive symptoms. Perceived discrimination was linked to more depressive symptoms; however, positive relationships with sons were associated…
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Journal Article While the father's influence on his offspring's personalities and well-being has historically been neglected, literature on this topic has recently been accumulating. The father's influence touches upon numerous practical and ethical implications for social work, psychotherapy, and psychodiagnosis. The present study draws from Mahler's theory of the psychological birth of the child and offers a novel focus on the pivotal internal representation of the father. According to this theory, hindered developmental processes lead to depression and anxiety. 130 students took part in the current study…
