A qualitative study of the meaning of fatherhood among young urban fathers
UMass Chan Affiliations
Center for Health Policy and ResearchDepartment of Family Medicine and Community Health
Department of Pediatrics
Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2010-06-09Keywords
AdolescentAdult
Data Collection
*Father-Child Relations
*Fathers
Female
*Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Male
Massachusetts
Pregnancy
*Pregnancy in Adolescence
Qualitative Research
Questionnaires
*Urban Population
Young Adult
Pediatrics
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To explore the beliefs, attitudes, and needs young men have regarding their role as a father. DESIGN AND SAMPLE: Exploratory, descriptive, qualitative design. Young fathers/young expectant fathers were recruited from service sites within a city in Massachusetts. Men were considered young fathers/young expectant fathers if they were or would be <20 years old at the birth of a first child or the mother of their baby was or would be><20 years old at the>baby's birth and the young man was <25 years old. MEASURES: Participants were interviewed utilizing open-ended>questions, which included the following: the characteristics of good fathers, goals/needs for self and child, and whether or not they planned to raise the child as their father raised them and why. RESULTS: Responses regarding fathering clustered into the following themes: being available; providing support; and self-improvement, including completing education and becoming a positive role model. Forty-seven percent believed that being employed or finishing school would help them be better fathers; 77% reported they would not raise their child as their own father had raised them, citing physical and/or emotional abuse/abandonment. CONCLUSIONS: Young men in this study identified several challenges to being "good" fathers. These included lack of employment, education, and positive role models.Source
Public Health Nurs. 2010 May-Jun;27(3):221-31. Link to article on publisher's siteDOI
10.1111/j.1525-1446.2010.00847.xPermanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/43116PubMed ID
20525094Related Resources
Link to Article in PubMedae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1111/j.1525-1446.2010.00847.x