a practice and research intervention
The default family paradigm that still prevails in most social service settings typically focuses on the family as "a mother and her children." This emphasis tends to relegate fathers to a diminished role, marginalizing their potential and their importance. We invite you to learn about The Supporting Father Involvement Project, a clinical and research intervention by the team of Dr. Philip A. Cowan, Dr. Carolyn Pape Cowan, Dr. Marsha Kline Pruett, and Kyle D. Pruett, MD. A statewide dissemination effort of SFI in California is being conducted with the support of Strategies, and an international replication is underway in Alberta, Canada.
A growing body of research has concluded that positively engaged fathers promote their children's overall development, and yet the majority of programs that serve families with young children, especially low-income families, still tend to focus almost exclusively on mothers.
The first five years are a particularly critical time to develop healthy patterns and family interactions, but, historically, family resource centers and programs have leaned away from pro-actively involving fathers. From home visits to parenting classes, the majority of programs cater primarily to mothers, due to the mistaken belief that mothers are the sole pathway to child development and well-being.
This research and intervention represents the first randomized, controlled clinical trial focused on father involvement in low-and middle-income families. The study -which has enrolled over 900 families - compared father-only and father-mother interventions with each other and against a control group, and evaluated the impacts on families and children. Five family life domains were addressed in the curriculum and in the assessment of outcome: the well-being of the individual parents, the quality of the relationship between the parents and in the family of origin relationships, parenting styles, and outside stresses and social supports (e.g., employment).
The research confirms that when fathers become more involved in parenting - and in working with mothers as co-parents and partners - healthier families and healthier children are the outcome. Parents participating in groups experience reduced stress and anxiety, are more satisfied with their relationship, and employ less harsh discipline. Their children become less hyperactive and aggressive than the children of parents in the control group. Moreover, SFI teaches that agencies that serve families can become more father friendly, thus creating organizational/institutional/community change as well as family change.
| Journal
of Marriage and the Family
Article Published August 1, 2009 Press Release: NEW STUDY MEASURES BENEFITS OF MORE INVOLVED FATHERS Children face greater risk when agencies focus only on moms, overlook dads Family service agencies are missing huge opportunities to help children by focusing only on mothers and ignoring fathers, according to a groundbreaking study by some of the nation’s top family and child development researchers... (Click below to read the complete press release). ...To read the complete press release and download the full article click here. |