Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This research examines how new fathers’ experiences with their own fathers impacts their attitudes toward fatherhood. Using the baseline father sample (n=3,652) of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Survey, I consider how family structure at age 15, the presence of a father-figure, and perceptions of their own father’s involvement are associated with four different indicators of attitudes toward fatherhood. I find that coresidence with a biological parent or having a father-figure is relatively unrelated to favorable paternal attitudes. Instead, men’s perceptions of their own father's involvement are important – compared to men who reported having a highly involved father, men whose fathers were less involved place less importance on the father’s role as providing financial support, providing direct care, or acting as an authority figure. Interestingly, men who did not know their father, though, are not significantly different in their paternal attitudes than men whose fathers were highly involved.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This essay addresses the cultural expectations of father-son relationships by examining the representation of this dyadic relationship on Smallville. Utilizing textual data and audience survey responses, I examine how the writers and directors of the series emphasize nature versus nurture when representing the two father-son dyads on the show – Clark Kent/Jonathan Kent and Lex Luthor/Lionel Luthor. Despite these overt, highly scripted desires, audiences do not identify with this overarching textual argument in the series. Instead, audience respondents identified both fathers as less than ideal role-models, and expressed concern for both young men’s depiction in the series. By examining communication literature related to father-son communication patterns, and weaving the textual and audience elements of the series together through grounded theory analysis, critical implications emerge about the cultural stakes of representing father-son relationships in media.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This study is the first to explicitly compare the organization of nonresident father involvement to that of resident fathers utilizing a measurement model and identical sets of involvement items. In addition, we assess the relationship of paternal involvement to father-adolescent closeness in nonresident versus resident father families. The data come from a sample of 6,287 adolescents with nonresident fathers and 11,466 adolescents with resident fathers in the first wave of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). We find that fathering is organized differently in nonresident versus resident father families, in that nonresident father involvement fits neatly into a measurement model with two latent constructs, activities and communication. On the other hand, the involvement items of resident fathers are not highly correlated with one another, and therefore do not conform to a parsimonious measurement model. We also find that nonresident father involvement has a greater potential influence on and explains a greater degree of variation in father-adolescent closeness. We explore possible explanations for the differential structure of involvement and its relationship to father-child relationship quality.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: An increasing portion of lower class men have children in more than one relationship. These men, which I term dual fathers, are poorly understood by researchers. Based on 62 interviews with low-income fathers, this project elucidates the beliefs, behaviors, and fathering identities of dual fathers. I find that all low-income fathers tend to adapt a “father figure” rather than a “father” definition of fathering responsibility. I also find that fathers tend to self-identify as responsible fathers, despite varying definitions of responsibility.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Although adolescents from divorced or separated households smoke at higher rates than their peers, the mechanisms underlying this difference in behavior have not been adequately described. Using a sample of 2,694 adolescents from two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and drawing on theories of parental involvement, modeling, and the same-sex hypothesis, this study tests whether nonresident fathers’ practices affect the propensity of their adolescent children to smoke. The findings suggest that nonresident fathers’ involvement does affect the probability that adolescents smoke, but that these effects vary according to adolescents’ gender and fathers’ modeling of smoking behavior. Implications for theory and public policy are discussed.