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A Critical Exploration of Biological and Social Fathering Among Afro‐Caribbean Fathers
Author(s) -
Green David S.,
Chuang Susan S.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
family relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1741-3729
pISSN - 0197-6664
DOI - 10.1111/fare.12479
Subject(s) - conceptualization , socialization , thematic analysis , ethnic group , psychology , developmental psychology , qualitative research , social psychology , sociology , social science , computer science , artificial intelligence , anthropology
Objective This research explores fathers' construction of fathering to expand knowledge on the behavioral, cognitive, and affective domains of father involvement, focusing on middle childhood in ethnic minority families. Background Fathers' contributions to children's development and socialization have received increasing attention since the 1970s. Although exploration of ethnic minority fathers has increased, the literature on ethnic and minority fathers is limited because insight into fathers living outside North America continues to be understudied. Method This study employed a qualitative methodology from a social constructivist perspective and a bioecological model to contextualize fathering in Afro‐Jamaican families. Phenomenological thematic analysis (PTA) was used, focusing on 24 semistructured interviews from five biological and 19 biological and social Afro‐Jamaican fathers. Results Using Palkovitz's (1997) conceptualization of fathering, including behavioral, affective, and cognitive domains, phenomenological thematic analysis was extended to include the spiritual domain. Furthermore, fathers reported being engaged with their biological and social children in similar ways. Conclusion These findings highlight the need for researchers to explore both the universal and culturalized aspects of fathering in cultural contexts. Implications Fathers should be supported through social policies and program intervention to encourage fathers to be involved in children's lives in multiple ways.