In this intergenerational collection of poetry by new and established African American writers, fatherhood is celebrated with honor, humor, and grace. Folami Abiade, Dinah Johnson, Carole Boston Weatherford, Dakari Hru, Michael Burgess, E. Ethelbert Miller, Lenard D. Moore, David Anderson, Angela Johnson, Sonia Sanchez, and Davida Adedjouma all contribute. Javaka Steptoe, who also offers a poem, employs an inventive range of media to bring each of the poems to life. In Daddy's Arms I Am Tall testifies to the powerful bond between father and child, recognizing family as our greatest gift, and…
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Journal Article
This article reviews the five key social work journals for the years 1988-1996. These journals had a total subscription of 168,000 during the mid-point of this nine-year span. The five journals published a combined total of 30 issues per year, ranging from 4 to 10 issues. A total of 2,323 feature articles were published in 270 issues during that period. The earlier depictions of fathers in the articles as perpetrators and as embattled have been superseded. The emerging view of fathers as nurturing is reflected in other sources. Thus, the view of the father as perpetrator and as someone to…
This report details the experiences of six two-generation intervention projects in New York City supported by grants from the Foundation for Child Development. The two-generation projects help low-income families gain access to employment-related services for parents, and developmental services such as quality child care and health care for children. Although programs varied, all included voluntary services, used counseling, and had a moderate level of openness to parent input and decision making. Chapter 1 of the report describes recent changes in the welfare system and efforts to develop…
Becoming a stepfather means new relationships, new struggles, and new joys. This book is a commonsense, practical guide that helps stepfathers ease into their new role. The author emphasizes how stepfathers must replace wishful thinking with realistic expectations. Suggestions for getting along with stepchildren and building lasting relationships, managing conflict, establishing authority, and communicating in a positive way are all included to help men fully enjoy the rewards of being a stepfather. (Author abstract modified)
Other
This conference discusses the the state of fathers in the workforce. Federal agencies and front-line practitioners are seeking ways to maximize opportunities for fathers' involvement with their families. Increasingly, federal employers and service providers are embracing the notion that, as one participant said, "Time is the currency of fatherhood." Creative work and family initiatives such as father-friendly leave policies, alternative scheduling, and telecommunity enable fathers to make family time a priority.
Cooking With Dad is a "how-to" and a "teaching" book. While making Pink Soup and "cleaning" a fish, you have an excellent opportunity to teach some history, physics, biology, chemistry, and math. (Author abstract)
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Journal Article
This article describes the practical application of research findings from two studies of adolescent parents, both reported in the same issue of Family Relations. The studies identified factors that influence competent parenting among teenagers and examined how those qualities can be enhanced. Self-esteem, scholastic achievement, and commitment to the child were the most significant variables contributing to competent parenting. Practitioners should focus on increasing the adolescent parent's support network and use peer influence to promote socially responsible parenting. Practitioners…
Unpublished Paper
This study investigated the quality of parenting among men who abused their wives. Data were collected from 92 men referred to battering intervention programs about variables that predicted child maltreatment, including batterers' age, history of maltreatment during childhood, exposure to the abuse of their mother, substance abuse, child's age and gender, number of children, and frequency and severity of spouse abuse. The parenting skills of the men were assessed and rated as violent, nonviolent, or positive. In addition, the wives of 16 of the men were also asked to assess parenting and…
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Journal Article
Hamer studied the roles and functions of black noncustodial fathers to explore the fathers' perspective on fatherhood in the context of the traditional view of fatherhood in the US. Their perspective on the roles and responsibilities of fatherhood contrasted sharply with that of the dominant culture.
Children who have an ongoing, positive connection to their fathers do better in school and get along better with their peers than children without such a relationship. Those children whose fathers play a positive role in their lives also tend to stay out of the juvenile justice system. Unfortunately, the latest figures show that 17 million children in this country have absent fathers (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1996). In addition, each year 1 million children are born to unwed parents, and another million are newly affected by divorce. What is more, close to 3 million are being raised solely…
