Transcript Mentoring Programs to Promote Father Involvement

Promoting Father
Involvement
Jennifer L. Baker, Psy.D.
Anne B. Summers, Ph.D.
Debbi Steinmann, M.A.
The Training for the
Healthy Marriage
and Family
Formation
curriculum was
created through
the cooperative
efforts of:
Training Instructor / Mentors
Melissa A. Gibson, M.S.
Kim Rozell, M.A.
Graduate Assistants
Brent Anderson, M.S.
Matthew Biller, M.A.
Cate Brandon, M.A
Dawn Clinard, M.A.
Jessie Clinton, M.S.
Tabitha Carlson, M.S.
Anup Jonathan
Tony Larson, B.A.
Nicole Mannis, M.A.
Robert Mindrup, M.S.S.W.
Colleen Quinn, Ph.D.
Amber Schafer, M.A.
Amanda Schroeder, B.S.
Why Be
Concerned
With Father
Involvement?
• 1996: United States became the
world’s leader in fatherless
families.
• Mother-only households grew
from 7.7% in 1960 to 21.6% in
1990.
• 2000: 25% of America’s
children lived in mother-only
families.
• Of these mother-only
households, the percentage of
mothers who had never been
married increased from 3.9%
in 1960 to 31.5% in 1990.
Children Living Without their
Biological Father
• Nearly 40% of all children.
• Almost half of the 40% haven’t seen
their father for at least a year.
• Over 50% of children born in the U.S.
will spend half of their childhood in a
father-absent household.
Locating Data in
Your Area
• Office of Child Support Enforcement
Website:
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cse/extinf.htm
• Kids Count 2004 Data Book Online:
http://www.aecf.org/kidscount/databook/
Father
Presence
Enhances
• Fetal and infant
development.
• Physical well being &
perceptual abilities.
• Competency for
relatedness with others.
• Competence, selfreliance, and ambition.
• Initiative and selfcontrol.
Father
Involvement
Decreases
• Poor school performance
or drop out.
• Early and promiscuous
sex.
• Influence of peer pressure.
• Engagement in criminal
behavior.
• Drug use.
Father
Involvement
Decreases
• Poverty
• Child Abuse
• Emotional and Behavioral
Problems
•••••••••••••••
Children in two-parent
families simply do
better.
Father Absence Linked to
Early Sexual Activity and
Teenage Pregnancy
Study in the U.S. and New Zealand found:
• Father absence was a risk factor for early sexual
activity and adolescent pregnancy.
• Father presence was a major protective factor
against early sexual activity.
• Girls with early father absence had the highest rates
of both early sexual activity and adolescent
pregnancy.
Importance
of Marriage
on Father
Involvement
• Marriage increases father
involvement.
• Fathers who live with their
children:
– spend more time with them.
– contribute greater financial
resources to their support.
– have greater input on
decisions that affect
children’s lives.
Importance of Marriage
on Father Involvement
• Studies reveal that even in high-crime
inner-city neighborhoods, well over
90% of children from safe, stable, twoparent homes do not become
delinquents.
Transition
to
Fatherhood
• Occurs primarily through:
– Birth of Child.
• Secondarily through:
– Marriage (step-parenting)
– Adoption
Expectant and New
Fatherhood
Becoming a father consists of three subprocesses:
• Grasp the reality of the pregnancy and
child.
• Strive for recognition as a parent from
others.
• Begin to construct and assume the role of
an involved father.
National Fatherhood
Initiative
• Founded in 1994 to lead a society-wide
movement to confront the problem of
father absence.
• NFI’s mission is “to improve the well
being of children by increasing the
proportion of children growing up with
involved, responsible, and committed
fathers.”
• www.fatherhood.org
Challenges
•
•
•
•
Relational conflict.
Time demands of work.
Family of origin.
Attitudes, motivation and
skills.
• Age when becoming a
father.
• Child’s gender.
Relational Conflict
• Constant fighting and conflict often
cause fathers to withdraw from their
children.
• Mother’s feelings about father can
affect how much he is involved.
• Angry mothers are much more likely
to try to exclude father involvement.
Relational Conflict
Father involvement increases when mother
believes:
• He is competent at childcare.
• He is interested in participating in childcare.
• His involvement is seen as valuable.
• Father involvement decreases when:
– mothers are critical or judgmental of father’s caregiving ability.
Time Demands
• Emotional climate of work:
– High stress jobs have “spill over” effect.
– Job satisfaction promotes healthy interaction.
• Work socialization impacts fathering:
– Those in highly autonomous jobs value
independence in their children.
– Fathers in highly supervised jobs tend to
value obedience and conformity.
Family of
Origin
• Father’s relationship to his
own family of origin.
– Modeling: learning the
role by example.
– Compensation: if their
example was negative
men attempt to make up
for this in their own
parenting style.
• Attitudes, motivations, and
beliefs.
Younger fathers are more
likely to:
•
•
•
•
Age
Be less educated.
Have lower academic abilities.
Became sexually active earlier.
Be involved in crime.
Older fathers are more
likely to have:
• Less financial strain.
• More job flexibility.
• Greater confidence in one’s role
as a father.
Child’s Gender
• A higher percentage of male children in
the household was associated with
increased father involvement over time.
• Fathers with all male children showed a
greater increase of involvement over
time than fathers with all female
children.
Fathers:
Child’s
Gender
• Touch and talk more
with newborn boys.
• Vocalize more to their
sons.
• Are more responsive to
a son’s vocalizations.
• Are more likely to
engage in physical
activities like
tossing/lifting with a
son than a daughter.
Fatherhood
Programs
and
Resources
• Transition to Fatherhood
– Love’s Cradle
– Becoming Parents
Program
– Boot Camp for Dads
• Promoting Father
Involvement
– 24/7 Dads
– Dads at a Distance
– Fathers Reading Every
Day (FRED)
Fatherhood
Programs
Love’s Cradle
Fatherhood
Programs
24/7 Dad AM &
24/7 Dad PM
Dads at a Distance
Fatherhood
Programs
-Military
-Travel for work
-Incarcerated
www.daads.com
Websites
National Fatherhood Initiative:
http://www.fatherhood.org
The Center for Successful Fathering:
http://www.fathering.org
The National Center for Fathering:
http://www.fathers.com
Questions