Making Daddies into Fathers: Community-based Fatherhood Programs and the Construction of Masculinities for Low-income African American Men
January 22nd, 2010 Posted by: admin
Abstract In this analysis, we explore how low-income African American fathers build understandings of successful manhood in the context
of community-based responsible fatherhood programs. Drawing on life history interviews with 75 men in Illinois and Indiana,
we explore men’s attempts to fulfill normative expectations of fatherhood while living in communities with limited resources.
We examine the efforts of community-based fatherhood programs to shape alternative African American masculinities through
facilitation of personal turning points and “breaks with the past,” use of social support and institutional interventions,
and the reframing of provision as a priority of successful fatherhood. We refer to Connell’s hegemonic masculinity framework
(Connell in Masculinities, Polity Press, Cambridge, 1995) and discuss how both men and programs borrow from hegemonic and street masculinities to develop alternative approaches to
paternal involvement for marginalized men.
of community-based responsible fatherhood programs. Drawing on life history interviews with 75 men in Illinois and Indiana,
we explore men’s attempts to fulfill normative expectations of fatherhood while living in communities with limited resources.
We examine the efforts of community-based fatherhood programs to shape alternative African American masculinities through
facilitation of personal turning points and “breaks with the past,” use of social support and institutional interventions,
and the reframing of provision as a priority of successful fatherhood. We refer to Connell’s hegemonic masculinity framework
(Connell in Masculinities, Polity Press, Cambridge, 1995) and discuss how both men and programs borrow from hegemonic and street masculinities to develop alternative approaches to
paternal involvement for marginalized men.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Original Paper
- DOI 10.1007/s10464-009-9282-4
- Authors
- Kevin M. Roy, University of Maryland Department of Family Science, School of Public Health 1142T SPH Building, 255 Valley Drive College Park MD 20742 USA
- Omari Dyson, South Carolina State University Department of Education 300 College Street, NE Orangeburg SC 29117 USA
- Journal American Journal of Community Psychology
- Online ISSN 1573-2770
- Print ISSN 0091-0562
