Promoting father engagement among low-income fathers: fathers’ narratives on what matters in a fatherhood programme in the western US

ABSTRACT

Over the past two decades increased attention has been paid to promoting positive father involvement. Much of this effort has occurred through the development of fatherhood education programmes, however, examining the ways in which these programmes impact how men enact their fatherhood roles, especially those from diverse backgrounds is limited. Based on focus group data derived from ethnically diverse low-income fathers (n = 40), participating in a fatherhood education programme, we identified the following programme themes as integral to increasing father engagement: (1) social support from facilitators, (2) peer support among fathers, (3) feeling valued in family relationships, (4) improvements in co-parenting relationship, and (5) increased knowledge of child development. These findings provide critical information on the aspects of fatherhood programmes that men deem as most impactful to their fatherhood role and identity. The data also highlighted the positive ways in which the programme impacted fathering behaviours. Moreover, these qualitative results highlight key focus areas for practitioners, scholars, and policy makers in their continued efforts to support father involvement.

KEYWORDS:

• Fatherhood
• fatherhood programmes
• father education
• low-income fathers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Healthy Marriages and Responsible Fatherhood Initiative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families: The Office of Family Assistance [grant number 90FK0112-04-00].