👨👩👧👦🇺🇸 Fatherhood in America: Social Work Perspectives on a Changing Society
📚 Book Report: 👨👧👦 Fatherhood in America: 🧑💼 Social Work Perspectives on a Changing Society
Fatherhood in America: Social Work Perspectives on a Changing Society, edited by Carl Mazza and Armon R. Perry, is a 📝 comprehensive examination of the 👨👧👦 multifaceted nature of fatherhood in contemporary America. 📅 Published in 2017, the book offers 💡 insights from a range of disciplines, including 🧑💼 social work, 👨👩👧👦 family studies, 🏛️ sociology, 🧠 psychology, and ♀️ gender studies. It aims to 🌉 bridge the gap between research and practice, providing valuable information for 🧑🏫 academics, 👨🎓 students, and 🧑⚕️ practitioners working with fathers and families.
🔑 Key Themes and Structure
The book is structured into 5️⃣ five main parts, each delving into different dimensions of 👨👧👦 fatherhood in the 21st century.
- 👪 Part I: 👨👧👦 Fathers and Family Composition: This section explores the concept of 👨👧👦 fatherhood within various family structures, including 🐣 becoming a father, 👦 young fathers, 👨👧 single fathers, and the dynamics of 👨👧 father-daughter and 👨👦 father-son relationships.
- 🏠 Part II: 👨👧👦 Nonresident Fathers: This part focuses on the experiences of fathers who do not live with their children, addressing issues faced by never-married fathers, 🏠 homeless fathers, and ⛓️ incarcerated fathers.
- 🧬 Part III: 👨👧👦 Biological Fathering and Beyond: This section expands the definition of 👨👧👦 fatherhood to include 👨👦 stepfathers, 🧑🧒 male foster carers, 👪 adoptive fathers, and 🏳️🌈 gay fathers.
- 🌍 Part IV: 👨👧👦 Cultural Dimensions of Fatherhood: This part examines how culture shapes 👨👧👦 fatherhood, with specific chapters dedicated to the experiences of 👨🦱 Latino, 👨🏿🦱 African American, and 🪶 Native American fathers.
- 🏥 Part V: 👨👧👦 Fatherhood Service Delivery: The final section explores the systems and initiatives in place to support fathers, including 📝 needs assessments, 📏 measuring father involvement, and 🌍 developing culturally competent services.
📚 Content and Approach
The book emphasizes the 🔑 critical role fathers play in their children’s 🌱 growth and development, from 👶 infancy through 👦 adolescence. It acknowledges the 🌍 ethnic diversity of fathers in America and how cultural context influences fathering roles and expectations. The chapters, authored by leading 🧑🏫 scholars and 🧑⚕️ clinicians, provide a blend of 🔬 research findings, 💡 practical insights, and 🌎 real-world experiences. The book also discusses the context, practice, and existing gaps in responsible fatherhood programs. It is presented as a useful resource for those in 🧑💼 social work, ⚕️ health, 👨👩👧👦 family counseling, and 🧑🤝🧑 human services.
➕ Additional Book Recommendations
🤝 Similar Books (🧑💼 Social Work and 🧑🏫 Academic Focus)
- 📖 👨👧 The Role of the Father in Child Development by Michael E. Lamb: 🌳 A foundational text in fatherhood research, offering in-depth analysis of the father’s impact on child outcomes.
- 📖 Social Work Practice with Fathers: Engagement, Assessment, and Intervention by Gary Clapton: This book provides direct guidance for 🧑💼 social work practitioners on how to effectively work with fathers, addressing the historical bias towards mother- and child-focused interventions in social services.
- 📖 Social Work Practice with Children and Families: A Family Health Approach by Mary Patricia Van Hook: This text presents a framework for working with families from a resiliency-based approach, which can be directly applied to understanding and supporting fathers within the family unit.
🆚 Contrasting Books (Different Perspectives or Approaches)
- 📖 Fatherhood: Rising to the Ultimate Challenge by Etan Thomas: This book offers personal experiences and interviews with diverse fathers, providing a more anecdotal and personal perspective compared to the academic focus of Fatherhood in America.
- 📖 DAD: Untold Stories of Fatherhood, Love, Mental Health and Masculinity curated by Elliott Rae: This collection presents a variety of personal stories from fathers, challenging traditional notions of masculinity and covering diverse experiences like 👨❤️👨 gay fatherhood, being a 👨👧 single dad, and 🧠 mental health.
- 📖 The Changing Role of Fathers by Graeme Russell: An earlier work that provides a historical perspective on the evolving role of fathers, offering a point of comparison to the contemporary focus of Fatherhood in America.
💡 Creatively Related Books (Broader Themes)
- 📖 Men in Families: When Do They Get Involved? What Difference Does It Make? edited by Alan Booth and Ann C. Crouter: This interdisciplinary collection examines men’s involvement in families from various angles, including historical, sociological, and psychological perspectives, providing a broader context for understanding changing family dynamics beyond just fatherhood.
- 📖 The Best Kept Secret: Single Black Fathers by Roberta L. Coles: This book specifically explores the often-overlooked experiences of single 👨🏿🦱 Black fathers, offering a deeper dive into a specific demographic discussed in Fatherhood in America.
- 📖 Communicating Fatherhood edited by Vince Waldron and Tom Socha: This unique book focuses on the communication dynamics by and about fathers, exploring how 👨👧👦 fatherhood is depicted and performed through various forms of communication and media, adding a different lens to the understanding of 👨👧👦 fatherhood in society.
💬 Gemini Prompt (gemini-2.5-flash-preview-04-17)
Write a markdown-formatted (start headings at level H2) book report, followed by a plethora of additional similar, contrasting, and creatively related book recommendations on Fatherhood in America: Social Work Perspectives on a Changing Society. Be thorough in content discussed but concise and economical with your language. Structure the report with section headings and bulleted lists to avoid long blocks of text.
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👨👩👧👦🇺🇸 Fatherhood in America: Social Work Perspectives on a Changing Society
— Bryan Grounds (@bagrounds) June 15, 2025
👪 Family Structures | ♂️ Male Roles | 👨👦👦 Parent-Child Relationships | 🌍 Cultural Influences | 👨⚕️ Practitioner Resourceshttps://t.co/fKla58VgTm