Designed to assist advocates for nonresident fathers in child welfare cases, this checklist provides tips for addressing special advocacy issues. Strategies for advocates are explained for addressing substance abuse, mental health concerns, domestic violence allegations, and immigration concerns.
Since the late 1970s and early 1980s, the psychological study of masculinity and the practice of gender-sensitive approaches to psychotherapy with boys and men has gradually become a specialty area within psychology. Recognizing that masculinity is a central aspect of men’s lives, psychologists began to study the male socialization process, socially prescribed notions of masculinity, and the psychological and social problems of boys and men (Englar-Carlson, 2006). Within this movement, a group of pioneering psychologists developed the gender role strain paradigm (GRSP) as a framework for the…
This book traces the lives of the author and other African-American women she interviewed about their African-American fathers. The author states that the most powerful relationship an African-American woman will ever have with a male is the one she has or doesn't have with her father. Whether present or absent Houston-Little asserts: fathers impact their daughter's lives in ways that sometimes defy description. If young African-American girls grow up with a loving, involved father in her life, the young girl seems to do well and lead a balanced life. She doesn't appear to be haunted by…
This book offers chapters by different authors discussing their experiences with group therapy and interventions encouraging fathers to play a greater role in their children's lives and practice other positive family behaviors. Small groups have the greatest potential to affect such changes for a number of reasons, the editors write, possibly because most social behavior occurs in small groups. Such groups are more effective in enhancing learning and create positive interdependence among members, especially in faith-based interventions. The editors also recognize the importance of the…
Soul searching can provide an in-depth understanding of the father's changing role in the family, the language of fatherhood, paternal contributions to child security, and the need to nurture androgyny. This chapter highlights the mythic and spiritual perspectives of these issues that should be integrated with social science and human studies in fatherhood research and policy. It explains that fatherhood is an act of faith in the acceptance of paternity and the social expectations of its meaning. The social expectations are derived from Biblical myths and common views about the callings of…
English speaking Caribbean men's relationships with their children are affected by a variety of factors that distinguish them from fathers in other countries, such as the complexity of mating and marital unions, cultural values regarding manhood and fatherhood, parenting knowledge, economics, and migration patterns. In low-income Caribbean families, mating and marital unions occur with different levels of commitment, from visiting or friending relationships, in which men and women meet for sexual and social contact, to common-law relationships, marital unions, and single parents.…
This book analyzes how the absence of African American fathers affects their children, their relationships, and society as a whole, while countering the notion that father absence and family fragmentation within the African American community is inevitable. It begins by offering possible explanations for the decline in marriage among African American families, including the limited economic prospects of many men who live in the inner city that impacts their ability to provide for a family. The book then considers marriage from an economic perspective, emphasizing that it is a wealth-producing…
