red dot icon
Journal Article The CARRI Program at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's Community Mental Health Center in Piscataway developed a home-based family therapy program for adolescent parents that included their extended families. Participation of extended families is important especially for cultural groups such as African-Americans, who have strong intergenerational bonds. This article provides an overview of cultural and systemic issues in African American families and their experience with teen pregnancy. Multigenerational incidence of teen pregnancy and single parenthood,…
red dot icon
Journal Article This article describes effective family support intervention programs designed for adolescent parents. The social support programs are offered through child care centers used by adolescents as they continue their education or vocational training. Benefits of social support services include improved knowledge about parenting, enhanced relationships between parent and child; and increased economic self-sufficiency for the young family. Three types of program models are explained in the article: community-based programs (health services, supplemental parent education); comprehensive programs (…
red dot icon
Journal Article The authors examined the relationship between parental attitudes toward and perceptions of father involvement in families according to the degree of paternal participation in child rearing. Subjects consisted of 8 families drawn from a sample of 100 families participating in a longitudinal study of parental involvement. Focus-group interviews were used to collect data regarding high-father-involvement fathers, high-father-involvement mothers, low-father-involvement fathers, and low-father-involvement mothers. Results indicated that different processes may influence men's participation in…
red dot icon
Journal Article This article examines how the temporal structure of employment schedules influences paternal responsibility for child care. Data on 1,452 families from the National Child Care Survey 1990 show mixed support for the demand/response capacity hypothesis, which states that paternal participation in child care is a function of demands placed on fathers as well as their capacity to respond to these demands. The present study finds that multiple dimensions of the mother's employment schedule exert pressures on the likelihood of a father taking care of his youngest child when the mother is not…
red dot icon
Journal Article This law review describes the adoption cases of legal battles between birth fathers and adoptive parents. The author notes that these cases illustrate the tension in the independent adoption laws among the constitutionally protected rights of birth fathers; the tenuous rights of adoptive parents; and the concept of the "best interest of the child." The law review explores the relationship in California among independent adoption laws, the rights of birth fathers, and considerations of the best interests of the child, as they are contained in the California Family Code and developed in case…
red dot icon
Journal Article This article reviews the United States Supreme Court decisions that established a liberty interest in the relationship between parents and their children. Next, it examines the background of Supreme Court decisions that established the parameters of the liberty interest which may exist between an unwed father and his child in adoption proceedings. Within this context, the article discusses the structure of the Illinois Adoption Act as it existed at the time the Illinois Supreme Court invalidated Baby Richard's adoption in the Baby Richard case. The article then discusses the facts of the case…
red dot icon
Journal Article This article addresses the issue of the basis and nature of an unwed biological father's right to block or reverse an adoption decision of an unwed mother. The author begins by reviewing the historical development of the legal status of unwed fathers under common law and United States constitutional law and discussing State statutory and case law concerning unwed fathers and adoption. Although the U.S. Supreme Court has found that unwed fathers who have established and maintained a relationship with their children have some protection under the Constitution, there is great variation among…
red dot icon
Journal Article Human service professionals such as psychologists, social workers, and family-relations specialists increasingly are asked to assess children's visitation needs with their divorced noncustodial fathers. Few guidelines exist for making such assessments. The author reviews theories that underscore the importance of fathers, even noncustodial fathers, in children's development as well as discusses the effects of divorce on children and fathers. A model containing variables to consider when assessing children's visitation needs with their noncustodial fathers is presented and discussed. (Author…
