Showing papers in "Fathering: A Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice About Men As Fathers in 2004"

"It's Almost Like I Have a Job, but I Don't Get Paid": Fathers at Home Reconfiguring Work, Care, and Masculinity

Abstract: Rooted in a qualitative research project with 70 stay-at-home fathers in Canada, this paper explores the ways that work and family interact for fathers who “trade cash for care.” While fathers are at home, they also remain connected to traditionally masculine sources of identity such as paid work and they take on unpaid masculine self-provisioning work at home and community work that builds on traditional male interests. They thus carve out complex sets of relations between home, paid and unpaid work, community work, and their own sense of masculinity. Narratives from stay-at-home fathers speak volumes about the ways in which the long shadow of hegemonic masculinity hangs over them while also pointing to hints of resistance and change as fathers begin to critique concepts of “male time” and market capitalism approaches to work and care. The paper concludes by pointing to several theoretical contributions to research on fatherhood and masculinities as well as to policy implications that arise from this study on the social valuing of unpaid work.

Low-Income Fathers' Involvement in Their Toddlers' Lives: Biological Fathers from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Study

Abstract: In this article, we use data on biological fathers (n = 597) and mothers (N = 1,550) from 12 sites of the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (EHS study) to examine the type and frequency of father involvement. We use a three-part model of father involvement to examine whether fathers participating in the EHS study are accessible to, engaged with, and show responsibility for their two-year-old children. We also examine patterns of reported father involvement by relationship status and residency. We find that more than 80% of all two-year-old children in the EHS study have accessible biological fathers, with the majority of nonresident boyfriends and nonresident friends and more than a third of fathers in no relationship with the mother seeing their children at least once in three months. These accessible fathers are engaged in a range of activities and show responsibility for their children, although patterns vary by the father-mother relationship status and father residency. More specifically, fathers who had at least a romantic relationship with the mother were more involved with their children across types of involvement than those in no relationship. Associations between relationship status and father engagement and responsibility remained after controlling for demographic variation among fathers in different relationship groups. A significant proportion of fathers who had no relationship with the mother of their child had some contact with the child, suggesting that the relationship between mother and father is not the only factor helping fathers stay involved in their children’s lives. Finally, fathers report doing a lot more caregiving than has been suggested by other studies.

Playing with Daddy: Social Toy Play, Early Head Start, and Developmental Outcomes

Abstract: Research on fathers in Early Head Start (EHS) has provided an opportunity to study fathers from low-income families. We examined father-toddler social toy play in relation to EHS enrollment, fathers’ psychosocial well-being, and children’s developmental outcomes in a sample of 74 father-toddler dyads. Overall, our results show that father-toddler social toy play was more complex among fathers in an EHS program than among those in a comparison group. Greater complexity in father-toddler social toy play predicted better cognitive and social developmental outcomes for young children, especially in the program group, but it was limited by fathers’ psychosocial well-being in the comparison group and by time availability in the program group. Nevertheless, the impact of EHS on father-toddler play suggests that an early intervention that targets father involvement can influence positive father-toddler interactions in ways that enhance early development.

American Fatherhood Types: The Good, the Bad, and the Uninterested

Abstract: This paper presents four contemporary types of American manhood: (a) the new, involved father, (b) the good provider, (c) the deadbeat dad, and (d) the paternity-free man. These four types are compared, contrasted, and contextualized with related data from the classic Middletown studies of the 1920s and 1930s. The significance and implications of the trend toward paternity-free manhood are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested.

Unidimensional Versus Multidimensional Perspectives on Father Involvement

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the utility of unidimensional and multidimensional models of the construct of father involvement and to provide measurement advice for researchers. Participants were 1,139 two-parent families from the 1997 Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID-CDS). Results from Structural Equation Modeling procedures supported the conceptualization of paternal involvement as a multidimensional construct, consisting of distinct domains of involvement. In particular, paternal cognitive monitoring was not related to the other aspects of involvement included in the model. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for further development and use of measures of father involvement and for further study of paternal involvement using the PSID-CDS data set.

You Can't Eat Love: Constructing Provider Role Expectations for Low-Income and Working-Class Fathers

Abstract: Using life history interviews with 40 noncustodial fathers in Chicago and 37 incarcerated fathers in Indiana, I explore the construction of paternal provider roles in low-income and working-class families. Fathers with stable jobs retained high expectations for providing but found that employment could limit and even harm paternal involvement. Underemployed fathers, or fathers out of work, lowered expectations for providing and crafted a version of involvement that was more than just providing. The study suggests that a focus on context and process can expand theoretical frameworks of work/family decisions for non-middle class families. Implications for policies include increasing opportunities for fathers to attain stable employment and restructuring work/family policies to alter expectations for men’s success as providers.

Men’s and Women’s Eldercare-Based Work-Family Conflict: Antecedents and Work-Related Outcomes

Abstract: Role theory was used to develop a model examining the antecedents and work-related outcomes of eldercare-based workfamily conflict. This model was then tested with a path analysis framework. Proposed antecedents to Family Interference with Work (FIW) include time spent providing eldercare, marital status, and gender. Proposed antecedents to Work Interference with Family (WIF) include gender, hours worked, flexible work arrangements, family-related supervisor support, and supportive workplace culture. The work-related outcomes explored were partial absence and intention to seek new employment. For this combined model, nine hypotheses were advanced, and four were supported. Next, the model was tested separately for men and women to begin to address the understudied question of how men’s responsibilities as sons relate to their work-family conflict. For example, separate model findings suggest that supervisor support is unrelated to WIF, for men, and that work-family conflict is related to partial absence for men but to intention to seek new employment for women.

Preferences and Perceptions About Getting Support Expressed by Low-Income Fathers

Abstract: This report examines the perspectives of fathers of low-income children about their needs and resources for support to help them with their parenting responsibilities. The data are taken from openended, qualitative interviews of 575 men as part of a comprehensive study of fathers related to the Early Head Start Longitudinal Study. The interviews, taken when the father or father figure’s child was 24 months of age, asked fathers about the barriers they experienced to fathering, about the sources of support or help they had available, and about supports they thought might be useful. The transcripts were analyzed using a constant comparison method to create a coding structure and coded using NUD*IST software. The primary barrier discussed by fathers was the difficulty of juggling work and other time demands, and their time for fathering. A number of fathers said there were no barriers and furthermore said they did not want any help or support. Fathers described their primary sources of support as their spouse or partner, their own parents (especially their mothers), and their own internal resources (e.g., motivation, patience). Themes fathers discussed related to Early Head Start included (a) direct supports to fathers for parenting or concrete supports (e.g., employment, social services); (b) indirect supports to their child’s mother; and (c) no supports perceived. Implications for Early Head Start father involvement programs are discussed.

Class-Based Masculinities: Divorce, Fatherhood, and the Hegemonic Ideal

Abstract: This study is based on current research and theory that suggests that divorce creates fundamental changes in the organization of families in terms of gender. We use feminist theory, with its elevation of gender to a central category of analysis, to begin to explain the mechanisms that shape fathers’ responses to divorce. Based on a review of narratives from 20 nonresidential, recently divorced fathers, we found that divorce prompted a transformation for these men in terms of their families’ gender relations of power. Men occupied positions of relative privilege when married, and divorce called this status into question. The relational and legal changes prompted by divorce signified a loss of access and authority to which many of the research participants felt entitled. Changes in the gender order in families influenced men’s constructions of masculinity. Moreover, an examination of gender and social class as components of an interacting system illustrates the constraints that class position imposed on men as they negotiated postdivorce family relationships.

From Sports Fans to Nurturers: An Early Head Start Program's Evolution toward Father Involvement

Abstract: This article is based on an in-depth qualitative study of efforts by an Early Head Start program to include fathers in program activities with the aim of supporting and strengthening their involvement in their children’s lives. Since this program employs a home-visiting model of service delivery, our focus is on the work and experiences of home-visiting staff. Our key findings concern the evolutionary development of program thinking and practice regarding fathers and father involvement; barriers or challenges to father involvement; and successful strategies for engaging fathers on both a programmatic and an individual family basis. Unlike most previous research on father involvement, this study provides a close-up look at staff experiences as they attempt to involve fathers in programming for infants and toddlers. Although significant barriers to father involvement were identified, certain approaches and strategies proved most effective in encouraging father engagement in key program components and with their youngest children.

The Interweave of Fathers’ Daily Work Experiences and Fathering Behaviors

Abstract: One way to examine the relationship between work roles and family roles for fathers is to study the day-to-day connections of their work and family experiences. The present study applied an ecological perspective to explore how daily work experiences are differentially associated with fathering experiences at home. Data for these analyses were from the National Study of Daily Experiences, which asked fathers to report about engagement with their children on workdays, including quantity of time spent with children and whether or not fathers provided their children with emotional support or were involved in a stressful event with their children on those same diary days. Fathers also reported on the number of hours spent in paid employment each day and whether or not they experienced a cutback in their work productivity or were overloaded with demands and deadlines at work. Results from a series of Hierarchical Linear Models (HLM) showed that fathers were more likely to report providing emotional support to their children on days they also reported overloads at work and, on days fathers reported cutting back on work, they were also more likely to report providing their children with emotional support or report being involved in a stressful event with their children. The nature of the job for fathers was also examined to identify factors that may moderate the relationship between work and home experiences. The association between work hours and time spent with children was shown to be moderated by the degree of decision latitude fathers experienced in the work setting.

Key Determinants of Mothers’ Decisions to Allow Visits with Non-Custodial Fathers

Abstract: Increases in single-parent households, often involving never married couples, have heightened the urgency to understand decisions parents make about parent-child relationships after separation. This qualitative study provides a descriptive analysis of the concerns of mothers in non-marital relationships that may affect their decisions regarding visitation and clarifies the relationship between visitation and paying child support. Weighing the benefits versus the costs, most mothers were willing to allow visitation even if the father did not pay child support, recognizing the importance of father-child relationships. It is imperative to make parenting plans and visitation as important as payment of child support. Funding for fathering programs and creation of father-friendly environments are essential to increase involvement of non-custodial fathers.

Reworking Work and Family Issues for Fathers

Abstract: Researchers who focus their attention on some facet of the gender puzzle are faced with the challenge of making visible a set of dynamics that are often so obvious and embedded in our taken-for-granted lives that they are almost impossible to see. For example, in a simple turn of phrase, Levine and Pitt made the invisible glaringly apparent when they coined the phrase "working fathers" in their 1995 landmark book. Our preoccupation with the work-family conflicts experienced by women as they moved into the paid labour force had blinded us to the emerging conflicts experienced by men as they sought to navigate their work and family lives. With this declaration, Levine and Pitt helped us to see what we had overlooked: that there was an important struggle for men that we needed to address. Although there has been an explosion of research on fatherhood in the past two decades, the story line in the work and family literature continues to be dominated by the challenges faced by women and mothers as they seek to reconcile the demands of paid work and their responsibilities to provide care to the family.Devoting a special issue of Fathering to the challenges of work and family for men is part of the effort to make these challenges more salient, understandable, and part of an emerging agenda for change. In the same way that the conditions of paid work were and continue to be a political issue for women, the conditions under which men provide care within the context of their working lives must be a political issue. Only when we have a better understanding of the dynamics, constraints, and opportunities that affect the ways men provide care to their children, parents, and partners can we participate fully in a social agenda of change designed to enhance gender equity at home and at work.Comparing contemporary families to recent cohorts, we see decreases in gender role specialization in achieving overall levels of waged and non-waged family work. Contemporary men and women are providing less than previous cohorts in areas of traditional gendered exclusivity and experiencing similar kinds of pressures as they tread in opposite directions toward egalitarianism. Men and women have begun to embrace greater responsibility in realms where prior generations practiced a greater degree of gender segregation. However, if egalitarianism is a benchmark, there are still significant changes ahead for both men and women in balancing work and family.There are several conditions of culture that make the work and family issue different for men. First, work and family for men have not been steeped in a discourse of choice. Work and family became an important political issue for women because they were choosing to work after decades of either being deliberately excluded from the paid labour force or told that their proper place was in the home. By contrast, it is culturally assumed that men will work and pay attention to their families (in that order). There has been a continuity in the expectation of paid work for men, with the result being that women have tended to experience more guilt, stress, and conflict by virtue of choosing to add work to their family responsibilities. For men, it has been a rise in the expectations to provide care -- in a reactive fashion -- that has heightened attention to work and family issues.Second, the reactive positioning of men to women's entry into the labour force has been shrouded in a discourse of deficiency. The battle cry, as William Goode so succinctly phrased it is, "Why do men resist? …