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Low‐Income Fathers and “Responsible Fatherhood” Programs: A Qualitative Investigation of Participants' Experiences *
Author(s) -
Anderson Elaine A.,
Kohler Julie K.,
Letiecq Bethany L.
Publication year - 2002
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/j.1741-3729.2002.00148.x
Subject(s) - perception , psychology , low income , qualitative research , developmental psychology , sociology , socioeconomics , neuroscience , social science
The authors present the voices of 20 low‐income fathers, all participants in a Responsible Fatherhood (RF) program in a large urban area. A hermeneutic phenomenological methodology was used to document participants' memories of becoming fathers, explain participants' perceptions of the benefits and the barriers to remaining involved with the program, and share participants' suggestions for program improvement. The results provide a preliminary evaluation of the program's services, and we discuss how these findings are helpful to future programmatic and policy initiatives.