Working with Adolescent Fathers

Dr. Jay Fagan

Temple University

School of Social Administration

Who are the fathers?

About 30% are in couples in which both mother and father are teens.

56% are in couples in which only the mother is a teen.

14% are in couples in which the father is a teen and the mother is older.

Who are the fathers?

About 5% of adolescent fathers completed some schooling beyond high school at the time when the baby was born, compared with 13.5% of older unmarried fathers.Adolescent fathers earned about $9,000 per year compared with older unmarried fathers who earned about $19,000 per year.

Who are the fathers?

About 40% of adolescent fathers receive financial help from their families, compared with 24% of older fathers (based on data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study).

Who are the fathers?

12.5% of adolescent fathers are married to their baby’s mother when the child is 3 years old, compared with 20% of older fathers.30% live with the mother but are not married, compared with 35% of older fathers7% are romantically involved but not living with the mother, compared with 9% of older fathers.50% are in non-romantic relationships with the mother, compared with 36% of older fathers.

What are their needs?

Adolescent fathers are at risk for low involvement with their children because they are less likely to be in close relationships with the mother. Implication:

Programs should work with young couples to teach positive co-parenting skills (cooperation, support, functioning as a team) even when they are no longer together as a couple.

Needs

Adolescent fathers provide less support to their partners during the pregnancy. Fathers’ prenatal involvement is the start of a trajectory of involved fathering.

Implication:Programs should target adolescent fathers during the pregnancy. Early intervention is critical!

Needs

Adolescent couples often experience a high level of relationship conflict, and conflict is associated with reduced father involvement with the child.Implication:

Young couples need support to work through their conflicts. Most teens can just move on to new relationships. Adolescents with children need to work out their relationship problems as best as possible so that both parents will continue their involvement with the child.

Needs

Adolescent couples often plan to marry each other (50% of couples agreed that they plan to get married), although these plans may be difficult to carry out.Implication:

Practitioners should talk openly with pregnant and parenting adolescents (mothers and fathers) about their future relationship plans.

Needs

Adolescent fathers are less likely to be gainfully employed than older unmarried fathers (only 30% of adolescent fathers whose partners were expecting a baby were employed). Their earnings are also low.

Implication:Programs should assist young fathers to learn skills that will improve their chances to provide for their families.

What types of programs are needed?

Coparenting

Childbirth and child development classes

Support programs to help adolescent fathers stay involved with their children

Vocational skills courses

Programs to assist young fathers to stay in school

Daddy-and-me programs

Recruitment of adolescent fathers

Programs should take place in locations where the young men are already involved (e.g., OBGYN clinic, school, recreation centers)

Provide transportation

Recruit assertively – let young fathers know that being a responsible father means attending classes on parenting

Recruitment

Employ peers to conduct recruitment and to co-facilitate programs.

The adolescent mother should be an ally in encouraging the young man’s involvement in the program.

Some professionals harbor negative feelings about the young father. Address those negative attitudes.

Recruitment

Create an organizational environment that is friendly to fathers and that is family-centered.Do not expect 100% participation of fathers. Programs need time to develop and to take hold in communities.Make a special effort to recognize adolescent fathers who participate, but don’t ignore the efforts of mothers who may become envious of the recognition given to their partners.

Recruitment

Provide alternatives for involvement in programs when fathers cannot attend workshops because of work or school.Make sure that staff who are not involved in the fatherhood program are aware of the men’s involvement. This will help to foster staff pride in their agency/school.

Recruitment

Provide opportunities for fathers who have completed programs to become leaders in the community. They can be very effective ambassadors for fatherhood initiatives.

Communicate an expectation for fathers’ participation in the program: Make it difficult for fathers to say “no.”

Principles for developing programs for fathers

Make sure that the program stays focused on parenting and healthy mother-father relationships. Do not let the program lose the parenting focus.

Father-child activity programs may need to be started first. Educational or support programs can come later. Fathers are sometimes more comfortable when they are not asking for help.

Principles for developing programs for fathers

Be careful not to replicate stereotypical gender norms in the program. For example, fathers should not be afforded special privileges that are not available to mothers. Emphasize fathers’ care giving role in the program.

Principles for developing programs for fathers

Establish father-only programs. Women may “take over” when the group includes both women and men.More programs that include both mothers and fathers are needed, but father may need to attend father-only programs first.Whenever possible, male staff should lead the activity for fathers.

Types of father involvement programs: father-child interaction

Provide an overview of the activities.

Provide a description of the purpose of the activity. Give instructions on how to complete the activity

Provide choices in activities

Check in periodically with fathers

Keep in mind that fathers are often not comfortable parenting in public

Parent education: Goals

To provide a safe and comfortable environment for fathers to talk about the joys and concerns of parenting.

To learn about individual and normative patterns of child behavior.

To discuss the joys and problems related to the changing role of fathers.

To be exposed to new ideas about parent-child communication and discipline.

Parent education topics

Lessons that fathers teach their childrenFathers and attachment: Building a close relationshipRaising the standards of good fatheringAccepting and guiding our children as unique individualsCreating a discipline toolbox

Parent education topics

Home alone dadsFather as moral guideManaging anger/learning patienceRaising boys in the 21st centuryRaising responsible children in a socially toxic environmentBalancing work and familySocial support for fathers

Coparenting program topics

Responsibility

(1). What does it mean to be there for somebody?

(2). How do we know when we can really count on someone?

(3). How does someone prove they’re there for us?

Coparenting

CompromiseTo co-parent successfully means talking with our babies’ mom about how we want co-parenting to work and to set the tone for positive co-parenting in the future. One way to make co-parenting work for our children and us is for parents to create a contract with each other. When two people sit down to negotiate a contract with each other, they talk about what they each want until they come up with an arrangement that feels reasonably fair to both of them.

Coparenting

Barrier to coparentingEven parents who live together find it hard to work out all the details of life and share the work of raising their children. It’s that much harder when moms and dads don’t live under the same roof. The facilitators pass out 3-4 pieces of construction paper resembling a brick, then tell the dads they are going to build a wall that represents some of the barriers that get in the way of making co-parenting work with their babies’ moms.