Cutting Across the Issues: Themes from the 1995-1997 Fathers and Families Roundtable Series

Executive Summary

What are the issues facing fathers in supporting their children and families? What are the roles that fathers can and do play in children's development and family efficacy? What are the needs of mothers who are primary caregivers to children? In what ways does father presence or absence matter? Is there a culture of fatherhood, and how are issues of culture, diversity, and difference examined within research on fathers and families? What are the strengths and the needs of practice in serving families and encouraging positive father involvement and effective cooperative parenting? How can fathers and families research contribute to the work of practitioners, programs, and communities? What policies are needed to effect positive change for children and families, and how do these policies integrate issues related to fathers? In discussing fathers and families, what are the ways in which salient issues cut across research, practice, and policy, and what are the possibilities for shared efforts?

These questions are posed within each of the Core Learnings and were among those discussed at the 1995-1997 Fathers and Families Roundtable Series, sponsored by the National Center on Fathers and Families (NCOFF). The Roundtable series consisted of meetings designed to connect researchers from different disciplines, along with practitioners and policymakers, in small, focused forums that stimulate critical analyses-from developing new conceptualizations of work on fathers and families, particularly around issues of race, culture, poverty, and gender, to the creation and implementation of action agendas, to the study of fathers' relationships with mothers, cooperative and shared parenting, and child and family welfare.

The purpose of the Roundtable Series was to promote issues around fathers and families through multiple forms of inquiry, encourage research that informs and is informed by practice and policy, and create opportunities for cross-disciplinary and cross-domain collaborations. The discussions at the 1995-1997 Roundtable Series included approximately 30 to 35 researchers, practitioners, and policymakers at federal and state levels. At every meeting, roundtable participants examined current and emerging issues, policy implications, and new directions for practice, research, and public policy. Three papers were used as focal areas of discussion for each roundtable: an NCOFF-commissioned literature review and two papers specially developed or revised for the roundtable.

This report describes the richness of the roundtable discussions and the extent to which participants struggled to untangle their complex topics while reflecting the current state of the field. It highlights the major themes that cut across the seven meetings with particular focus on their implications for practice, research, and policy. Because the issues affecting fathers and families are interrelated, the distinctions among several of the Core Learnings-particularly fathers care, father presence matters, co-parenting, and role transitions-occasionally became blurred. Overall, however, participants emphasized three points. First, fatherhood takes diverse forms and can be viewed through many lenses, and current practice, research, and policy do not always accommodate this diversity. Second, fathers and fatherhood are complex and influenced by many factors. And third, many fundamental, unresolved questions still exist about what it means to be a good father.

This report is intended to spark further debate among people concerned with fatherhood and family issues. It synthesizes the major viewpoints and experiences expressed by roundtable participants, most of which are related to the broad points outlined above. The first section presents key themes and implications that emerged across the seven roundtables. The second section summarizes participants' recommendations for new directions in practice, research, and public policy. Selected findings from the commissioned literature reviews are presented throughout the report to provide additional context.

Foreword

The NCOFF Fathers and Families Roundtable Series

The decline in the quality of life for children coupled with sweeping changes in policy and support to poor families within the past two years heighten the need for coherent and responsive efforts. The seven Core Learnings are the framework through which the field can examine these issues and deepen our understanding of the needs and problems facing fathers and families. Distilled from the experiences of practitioners and found to be resonant with critical research analyses, the Core Learnings provide the context for the National Center on Fathers and Families (NCOFF) to conduct and support interdisciplinary, cross-domain activities, build the knowledge base on fathers and families, and promote a forward-thinking agenda within and across research, practice, and policy. Future initiatives around father involvement, we believe, must secure the well-being of children over the short- and long-term and must address the increasing challenges with which growing numbers of children and their families grapple. The NCOFF Fathers and Families Roundtable Series was designed to explore these challenges and work toward positive change. This report shares with you the issues and recommendations of the Roundtable participants.

Future initiatives around father involvement, we believe, must secure the well-being of children over the short- and long-term.

As a university-based research center, NCOFF is committed to understanding a range of theoretical and practical issues in the field, i.e., to study whether, how, and with what effects fathers do and can contribute to children's well-being, support of mothers, and family functioning. We are encouraged by the interest in practice-focused efforts, continued commitment to basic and policy research on families, and increasing public attention to father involvement and family efficacy. The Fathers and Families Roundtable Series is one important step toward building the field. It will be enriched only by well planned, vigorously pursued agendas that support family efficacy, children's well-being, and positive father involvement and by our continued and collaborative investment in individuals, communities, and organizations committed to effecting positive change.

Vivian L. Gadsden
Director

To order the complete document "Cutting Across the Issues: Themes from the 1995-1997 Fathers and Families Roundtable Series", contact the National Center on Fathers and Families at mailbox@ncoff.gse.upenn.edu

Acknowledgements

This document was developed by the staff at the National Center on Fathers and Families (Vivian Gadsden, Keisha Armorer, Bill Cranford, and Danielle Kane) in collaboration with Leila Feister, Elizabeth Steif, and Amy Hightower of Policy Studies Associates, which was contracted to record the activities of each roundtable and compile the report. We would like to express our gratitude to the roundtable participants -- researchers, practitioners, policymakers, social commentators, and funders -- who unselfishly shared their knowledge, insights, and suggestions about the roundtables and the Center's work.

We are deeply appreciative to the Ford Foundation for its support to the roundtable meetings, the Annie E. Casey Foundation for its support to the roundtable documentation which led to this report and for its core support to NCOFF, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for its support to dissemination activities. The views expressed in this report are not necessarily those of our funding sources.