Engaging Fathers in Supporting Healthy
Development in Young Children
2008 Regional Meetings and Fall Fatherhood Series
Engaging Fathers in Supporting Healthy
Development in Young Children
Presented by:
With collaborative support from:
Objectives
Participants will understand:
• The impact that parents and communities play on early
childhood mental health
• Protective factors that promote healthy families
• Unique contributions of fathers to young children’s
mental health
• Lessons from the field
• Resources for supporting healthy parent-child
relationships
• The World Café model for hosting conversations
Overview of Day
10:15
• World Café Discussions (throughout day)
10:30
• Part I Father-Child Relationships & Child Mental
Health
11:30
• Break
11:40
• Part II Exploring Father-Child Relationships
during Early Childhood
12:30
• Lunch
1:00
• Part III Male Socialization and Father
Engagement
2:00
• Break
2:15
• Part IV Resources
3:00
• Evaluate
World Cafés
• Creating meaningful and cooperative dialogue
around a question participants perceive to
truly matter
• What conversation, if begun today, could
ripple out in a way that creates new
possibilities for the future?
• Listen together for patterns, insights and
deeper questions
• Harvest and share discoveries
World Café Number One
Parental resilience
• Be strong and flexible
How do you keep yourself
strong and flexible in your
family and personal life?
Background of Healthy Fatherhood
Child
Well-being
Promoting
Healthy
Fatherhood
Men’s
Development
Gender
Equity
Community
Development
Part I: Framing Father-Child
Relationships & Child Mental Health
Objectives:
• Defining early childhood mental health as a process
and identifying important developmental tasks.
• Understanding fathers’ direct and indirect influences on
social-emotional development in young children
• Identifying factors that matter in shaping father-child
relationships and influences on child mental health
Early Childhood Mental Health:
A Developmental Process
• Infant and early childhood mental health is the
developing capacity of children 0-5 to:
– Experience, regulate and express emotions
– Form close and secure relationships
– Explore the environment and learn
• All in the context of family, community, and
cultural expectations for young children.
• Infant and early childhood mental health is
synonymous with healthy social and emotional
development
Zero to Three (2000)
Early Childhood Mental Health:
A Developmental Process
Developmental Tasks 0-3
• Experience and express a
range of emotions
• Form close and secure
attachment with
caregivers
• Develop curiosity about
the world
The Developmental Process: Social-Emotional
Development Ages 3-6
•
•
•
•
•
Developmental Tasks
Recognize emotions in
self and others
Use labels for emotions
Learn behavioral
boundaries for emotional
expression
Learn empathy
Learn problem-solving &
conflict resolution with
peers
Assumptions about Fathers
• The quality of father involvement is a key factor
in promoting social-emotional development in
young children
• Father and mother parenting roles/styles overlap
with some unique differences in their direct
impact upon a child’s social-emotional
development
• Mother/father differences can be explained by
combination of gender socialization for
parenthood, biological and brain differences
Model for Understanding Father’s Roles in
Promoting Child Mental Health 0-3
Father’s pathways of influence
Direct
Father-Child
Relationship
Indirect
FatherMother
Relationship
Indirect
Father’s
Contribution
to the Family
System
Context is Important
Community
Family System
Father-Mother
Relationship
Father-Child
Relationship
Father-Child Relationship
Factors that Influence
• Father Factors
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Parenting History
Mental Health
Education Level
Knowledge of Child
Development
Beliefs about Gender Roles
Experience with Caretaking
High Efficacy
Culture
Religion
• Child Factors
–
–
–
–
Temperament
Health Status
Gender
Ability/Disability
Co-Parenting Relationship
Important Factors
• Residence
• Parenting Alliance
• Gender Role
Beliefs/Attitudes
• Social Support
• Socio-Economic Status
• Level of Father
Involvement
• Family Structure
Changing Family Dynamics
Video- Fighting for Kisses
Father’s Role in Family System
• Provide Physical
Resources
• Protect from
community/family
violence
• Support/Buffer for
Mother-Child
Relationship
• Connection to
Community/Social
Support Resources
Towards a balanced approach about the
importance of father involvement
• Early childhood development is a very complicated story
consisting of many interacting factors
• Not simple cause-effect relationships-Multiple causes/outcomes
are possible
• Father-child relationships and father’s indirect contributions are
ONE SET of (very important) factors in a diverse and complex
array of interacting factors.
• If we can facilitate and support positive father involvement it will
most likely have a positive effect for children, families and
communities
• Focus on Quality of Involvement as an important factor
• Early family based interventions matter
Palkovitz (2008)
Things that Always Matter
for Father-Child Relationships
• Affective Climate- Secure attachment depends upon
expressions of warmth, trust/security, responsiveness
• Relational Synchrony- Sensitive to cues, tuned in to
signals, developmentally appropriate, able to scaffold
child behaviors, sensitive to emerging interests &
abilities
• Behavioral Style- Maintain safety, moderate control,
Modeling of emotional expression, promotes
development with reasonable expectations
Adapted from Palkovitz (2008)
Things that Matter:
Co-Parenting Alliance
• Solidarity-cooperation between parents
(warmth/connection, affirmation and validation, cohesion,
harmony)
• Level of Antagonism-marital conflict and disagreements
from child-related conflicts
• Division of Labor- sharing child care and household tasks
• Mutual Engagement- engaging in family work and
supporting each other
McHale (2008)
• Healthy Co-parenting—higher level of father involvement
and higher quality of parent-child relationship
Feinberg (2007)
Things that Matter:
Family Systems
• Smoking & alcohol use
• Relationship conflict
and domestic violence
• Fathers’ post-natal
depression (10%)
• Economic contributions
• Social support
resources
Adrienne Burgess (2008) Fatherhood Institute
Summary: Developmental Parallels
• Young children
–
–
–
–
Emotional expression
Emotional regulation
Empathy
Recognize emotions in
others
– Conflict resolution
• Fathers’ tasks ?
Exercise: Defining Goals
for Fathers
Small Groups
– What are developmental tasks for fathers of
young children 0-5 ?
1. Father-Child Relationship
2. Co-parenting Relationship
3. Family System
– How do these translate to program goals?
Break
Love is Not Enough Parent Cafés
• Meaningful conversations to keep our families
strong
• Based on 6 Protective Factors
• Parent-led
• Strengths-based
• Adapted from The World Café
• Developed by Strengthening Families Illinois
Protective Factor
Parental resilience
Social connections
Knowledge of parenting
and child development
Translation
• Be strong and flexible
• Parents need friends
• Being a great parent is part natural
and part learned
Concrete support in times • We all need help sometimes
of need
• Give your children the love and
Healthy parent-child
relationship (attachment) respect they need
World Café Number Two
Who do fathers you know rely on for support?
How does this support make a difference?
Resources used by Fathers
Percent of respondents
Part II: Exploring Father-Child
Relationships during Early
Childhood
• Objectives
– Introduction to fathers
and focus on Intimate
Fatherhood
– Review of changing ideas
about fathers and
attachment
– Supporting fathers and
their role as emotional
coaches
Intimate Fatherhood: Model for
Contemporary Fathers
• Ethic of pure relationship (mutually beneficial to
fathers and children)
• Ethic of caring responsibility is secondary
• Spending time with and making time for are the
principles of intimate fatherhood
• Fathers value emotion, the expression of affection, and
exclusivity of the reciprocal father-child relationship
• This model can be applied to different family contexts
McDermott (2008)
Potential Pathways to Intimate Fatherhood
• Caretaking –attention to cues and responsive
to needs
• Play-introducing fun/excitement and risktaking
• Display of wide range of emotions-affection,
fear, anger, sadness, disappointment
• Understanding child’s emotions-sensitive to
cues and accepting of range of emotions
• “Being there”-hanging out/time together
Father-Child Attachment
Changing Perspectives
Fathers and Attachment
Sensitive Period
Original Thinking
• Engrossment- Fathers
are attracted to their
newborn child
Expanded Thinking
• New fathers are influenced by
hormonal changes and may
experience a sensitive period for
connecting to their newborn
child
• Birth is a peak emotional
experience for men who
participate in the birthing process
Fathers & Attachment
Role of Nature
Original Thinking
• Pre-cultural differences
between mothers and
fathers in relation to
sensitivity to cues from
infants
Expanded Thinking
• Brain differences and hormone
interactions that evolve
through interaction with male
socialization experiences help
to explain gender differences
– Brain structure-processing of
emotions
– Sensitivity to infant cues and
emotions
Fathers and Attachment
Mother-Child Template for Fathers
Original Thinking
Expanded Thinking
• Mothers are the
attachment model and
create secure
attachments through
sensitive and
responsive care giving
• Fathers have unique pathways to
attachment that don’t fit the
mother-child template
• Fathers may have complementary
roles based on gender differences
(e.g., mother hold infants facing in,
fathers hold facing out)
• Father’s interaction and rough &
tumble play patterns provide
opportunities to learn emotional
regulation
Fathers & Attachment
Mother-Father Interactions
Original Thinking
• Father as a support for
mother-child dyad and
coach during birth.
• Mother-child bond is
primary and child seeks
mother for comfort
Expanded Thinking
• Father-child relationship is also
important
• Co-parenting relationship as
part of a family system is an
important context for
attachment
• Mother as gatekeeper can
support and invite or limit and
discourage
• Co-parenting patterns begin to
solidify by 3 months
Fathers & Attachment
Implications of Expanded Thinking
• Increased understanding of the unique nature of
father-infant relationships and the dynamics of the
family system
• Father-infant relationships are important and there
appear to be sensitive periods for encouraging these
developing bonds
• Fathers influence infants’ social-emotional
development in both direct and indirect ways
through the quality of their interactions in the family
Lunch
World Café Number Three
In the context of this morning’s presentation and the
discussion of the previous café questions:
What can communities do?
Today’s “Taste of World Cafés”
• Reflecting on our own experiences as/with fathers
• Linking fatherhood conversations to the protective
factors
• Imagining community support for fathers and
families toward reinforcing protective factors
Part III: Male Socialization and Father
Engagement
What lessons can we learn from father-child relationships and
male socialization?
How can these lessons help to inform the ways that we engage
fathers in families and communities?
Male Socialization:
Preparation for Intimate Fatherhood
• How does male socialization prepare men for
emotional expression?
• What are the pathways to intimate fatherhood
that are most comfortable for fathers?
• How can we support men to be emotional
models and coaches for their children?
Lessons of Male Socialization
• Video Clip on Boys’
Emotional Expression
– Which emotions are
legitimate for boys to
express?
– How should boys express
emotions?
– How do boys learn to
regulate their emotions?
Discussion of Video
• What were the messages about emotional
expression and regulation?
• How are these same messages promulgated in
your community?
• How do these lessons carry over into
fatherhood?
• What alternative messages about emotions do
we want to teach boys?
Supporting Social Emotional Development
Lessons from Male Socialization
• Facilitative
–Fix problems by taking
action
–Promote exploration
–Can teach emotional
regulation through play
–High expectations
• Barriers/Inhibitors
–Anger is a masculine emotion
that is okay to express in a
physical manner
–Deny feelings of
fear/vulnerability
–Discount feelings of sadness
–Limited expression of emotions
–Emphasis on independence and
competition
Reflection on Messages about
Emotions from your Fathers
1. Complete exercise on
parenting style of your
father as you were
growing up.
2. Compare this with your
own style or desired
style.
3. In pairs answer the
following questions
– What was your father’s
dominant style?
– What were the
important lessons about
emotions that you
learned from this style?
– How did this style impact
your relationship with
your father?
Why Involve Expectant & New Fathers
of Infants and Toddlers
• Fathers are available and
receptive
• Fathers may undertake
more infant care
• Fathers are an important
support for mothers
• Fathers affect the health
of mothers and infants
• Involvement and coparenting patterns are
established early
Engaging Fathers
Barriers
• Primary role is seen as
breadwinner (time & energy)
• Reluctance to seek help,
support and advice and
disclose personal information
• Beliefs that early education
and caring are women’s work
• Mother restricts involvement
Facilitators
• Children engage and reward
father involvement
• Fathers want to build close
relationships with children
through shared activities
• Fathers want to support
child’s learning and
achievement
• Mother supports &
encourages involvement
Principles for Effective Practice
•
•
•
•
Assume that fathers want to be involved
All staff must believe in program goals
Create father friendly environments/activities
Focus on fathers’ contributions to child growth
& development
• Focus on fathers’ strengths
• Build relationships with father/one-on-one
work/individualize
Adapted from Fatherhood Report
Principles for Effective Practice, continued
• Provide requisite diversity of services along a
continuum - promotion to intervention
• Use methods/materials that are sensitive to
cultural and SES differences
• Directly address co-parenting relationships
• Allow sufficient dose and duration to effect
change
• Curriculum reflects clear goals & uses a variety
of methods
Break
Part IV
Resources for Father Engagement
Hierarchy of father involvement
Level 3: Achieve father inclusiveness
Level 2: Achieve father friendliness
Level 1: Achieve father awareness
Opening Doors for Fathers
Program Ideas from Practice
•
•
•
•
Daddy Books for new dads
Home visiting program
Co-parenting classes
Special events focusing on
dads
• Tailored e-mails with child
health & development
information
Daddy Book for New Dads
Information and Activities
for New Dads
• Information on
development
• Games fathers play with
infants
• Safety issues
• Toys to make
• Observation skills &
understanding development
Review Daddy Book
• Small Groups review the
Daddy Book and discuss
the following questions
– What are the best
features of the book?
– How might you use this
resource in your
community?
– What might you add to a
book like this for new
first time dads?
Home Visiting Program
that includes dads
Program Description
• Program focus
– Attachment
– Brain Development
– Health & Safety
• Strategies-10 sessions
–
–
–
–
–
–
Books
Songs
Handouts
Videotaping
Dad’s Pages
Magnet Statements
Dad’s Pages
• Examples of Topics
– Building a close relationship
with your child
– Strengths men bring to
parenting
– Home Alone Dads
– Wasting Time with Dad
Co-Parenting Classes:
Focusing on Mother-Father Alliances
Parenting Together
• Focus on parents who are
living together and
struggling with issues of coparenting
• Review of topics
• Sample exercise “Parenting Scruples” game
• Overview of outcomes
Shared Parenting
• Focus on parents who are
not living together but are
trying to share parenting
responsibilities
• Review of topics
• Overview of outcomes
Parenting Scruples
• Exercise with small group of 8-12 people
– Assign gender roles to have an equal number of
men and women in each small group
– Review rules
• Take turns reading situation cards
• Everyone should put down response choice to question
• Give everyone a chance to explain their choice
– Debrief game/goals
New Fathers & Internet Resources
• E-mails to fathers with child health &
development information
• 250 men in Australia contacted and 27%
responded with evaluations
• Respondents were professional & managers and
had high education levels
• Few had used internet information on parenting
before tailored messages
• Men found the information to be satisfactory &
effective
Fletcher et. al., 2008
Special Events for Dads
Focus on Fathers
Father – Child Activities
•
•
•
•
•
Family Fun Night
Super Saturdays
Dads & Kids Book Club
Fathers Reading Every Day
Fatherhood Celebration
Service Continuum for Fathers
Promotion
Early Intervention
Prevention
Intervention
Continuum Exercise
• Small groups walk around the room and add
own community information about services to
the charts
– Promotion & prevention services for fathers
– Early intervention & intervention services for
Fathers
– Successful practice tips
Resources for Serving Fathers, Families, and Communities
Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota
• Circle of Parents
Mutual Self-help support groups for families and children
• Parent Leadership Training/Parent Café Training
• Prevention Training
Prevention Messaging videoconference 11/24/08
Wakanheza creating welcoming environments for families and youth
• 2009 Prevention Conference
April 7-9, 2009, St. Cloud Civic Center, Prevention Works: Generations of Spirit,
Hope and Action
• Educational resources: www.pcamn.org,
• newsletter, e-news and printed materials
Resources for Serving Fathers, Families, and Communities
Minn. Department of Human Services
Children’s Trust Fund
Child Safety and Permanency Division
Federal Community Based Child Abuse Prevention
(CBCAP)
• Eighteen programs throughout the state promote the
protective factors
• Fifty-two county Child Abuse Prevention Councils (CAP-C)
• Statewide professional training and education
• Strengthening Families Minnesota
• Building Parent Leaders
Resources for Serving Fathers, Families, and Communities
Minnesota Fathers & Families Network
www.mnfathers.org
Public Policy
Educational Resources
News
Professional Training
Minnesota Fatherhood Summit – training conference, Jan. 12-13
Fatherhood Resources
• Fatherhood Involvement Research Alliance (Canada)http://fira.ca/index.php
• Fatherhood Institute (UK)http://www.fatherhoodinstitute.org/
• National Fatherhood Initiative (US)http://www.fatherhood.org/
• Zero to Three- http://www.zerotothree.org
• Promoting Responsible Fatherhood (Dept. of HHS)http://fatherhood.hhs.gov/
Closing Thoughts
and
Evaluation
Thank you!