In this exciting book, leading fatherhood scholars from Europe and Scandinavia offer unique insights into how to research fathers and fatherhood in contemporary society. Outlining research methods in detail, including examples of large scale studies, online research, surveys and visual and aural methods, they explore how each approach worked in practice, what the benefits and pitfalls were, and what the wider and future application of the chosen research methods might be. Covering a wide range of subjects from non-resident fathers to father engagement in child protection, this major contribution to the field also critiques and addresses the notion that fathers, especially young fathers, can be ‘hard to reach’. Essential reading for both students and policy makers in a fast-growing area of interest.

There's no denying that a woman's relationship with her father is one of the most important in her life. And there's also no getting around how the quality of that relationship—good, bad, or otherwise—profoundly affects daughters in a multitude of ways. In Our Fathers, Ourselves, research psychologist, author and scholar Dr. Peggy Drexler examines the ways in which the father-daughter bond impacts women and offers helpful advice for creating a better, stronger, more rewarding relationship. Through her extensive research and interviews with women, Dr. Drexler paints an intimate, timely portrait of the modern father-daughter relationship. Women today are increasingly looking to their dads for a less-than-traditional bond, but one that still stands the test of time and provides support, respect, and guidance for the lives they lead today. Our Fathers, Ourselves is essential reading for any woman who has ever wondered how she could forge a closer connection with and gain a deeper understanding of her father.

The first research-based text that focuses on the impact of the father-daughter relationship, this provocative book examines the factors that can strengthen or weaken these relationships and the impact that these relationships have on society. The research is brought to life with compelling personal stories from fathers and daughters, including well-known celebrities and politicians. Controversial questions engage the reader and film lists and website resources demonstrate the relevance of the research. Boxed quizzes and questionnaires show students how the research can be applied to their own lives while others highlight the relationships between actual fathers and daughters. Bold faced terms, a conclusion, and review questions keep readers focused on the key concepts. How these relationships are often ignored or denigrated in the media and in some mental health and legal systems is examined. The hope is that readers will apply the research to their own families and/or work. The book addresses: What is "good" fathering? How do daughters influence their fathers' well-being? How do fathers affect their daughters' social, academic, athletic, and psychological development? How are problems such as depression, eating disorders, and teenage pregnancy related to the quality of these relationships? How are father-daughter relationships in ethnic and racial groups unique? How do incarceration, abuse, gay or lesbian relationships, military service, immigration, and poverty affect father-daughter relationships? The book opens with the importance of the father’s role on daughters and the changing patterns of these roles. Chapter 2 examines the myths and misconceptions of father-daughter relationships including how they are portrayed in the media and the differences between parenting styles. Chapter 3 explores the behaviors that constitute "good" fathering. Scales used to measure "good" fathering are included. How fathers affect their daughters’ social, academic, intellectual, athletic, and psychological development is then considered. Factors that can weaken father-daughter relationships, such as divorce, including various theoretical perspectives, are explored in chapters 5 and 6. Father-daughter relationships of racial or ethnic minorities and an array of potentially destructive situations that affect these relationships are the focus of chapters 7 and 8. The impact of fathers who are incarcerated, abusive, alcoholics, gay, or sperm donors are considered. The book concludes with suggestions on where we go from here. Intended as a supplemental text for upper-level undergraduate or graduate courses on father-daughter relationships and/or parenting taught in human development, family studies, psychology, sociology, counseling, social work, and women’s studies, this practical book also appeals to mental health practitioners, social workers, legal professionals, and school counselors interested in these relationships.

"In-law relationships are multi-generational, multi-layered, and, like a kaleidoscope, a shifting amalgam of emotional colors. They are exceptionally important and, often, extremely complicated. They can be joyous and comforting and they can be disappointing and tension-filled. They can serve as a model for how to stay connected across generations for the well-being of grandparents, parents, and grandchildren, and as a bellwether for what to avoid. In this book, the authors describe the struggles as well as the triumphs that people encounter with their in-laws from the perspectives of both generations and suggest ways to improve the relationships"--

Parenting isn't rocket science, it's just brain surgery. And Dr. Joshua Straub has good news for you: You can do it! You don’t need to do all the “right” things as a parent. Both science and the Bible show us that the most important thing we can provide for our kids is a place of emotional safety. In other words, the posture from which we parent matters infinitely more than the techniques of parenting. Emotional safety—more than any other factor—is scientifically linked to raising kids who live, love, and lead well. Learn how to use emotional safety as a foundation from which you parent—and make a cultural impact that could change the world! In Safe House, Dr. Straub draws from his extensive research and personal experience to help you: - Foster healthy identity and social development in children of any age - Win the war without getting overwhelmed in the daily battles - Discipline in a way that builds relationship - Understand how the culture is affecting your child and what you can do about it - Cultivate responsible, self-regulating behavior in your kids - Establish an unshakeable sense of faith, morality, and values in your home - Feel more confident and peaceful as a parent - Find a greater perspective on parenting than what you might see on a daily basis Also includes a Safe House Parenting Assessment.

With a new Introduction by the author, this seminal classic examines the hidden struggle faced by millions of men: how to reconcile their childhood images of their fathers as silent, stoic breadwinners with the life they want to live now.

Holding On reveals the results of an unprecedented ten-year study of justice-involved families, rendering visible the lives of a group of American families whose experiences are too often lost in large-scale demographic research. Using new data from the Multi-site Family Study on Incarceration, Parenting, and Partnering—a groundbreaking study of almost two thousand families, incorporating a series of couples-based surveys and qualitative interviews over the course of three years—Holding On sheds rich new light on the parenting and intimate relationships of justice-involved men, challenging long-standing boundaries between research on incarceration and on the well-being of low-income families. Boldly proposing that the failure to recognize the centrality of incarcerated men’s roles as fathers and partners has helped to justify a system that removes them from their families and hides that system’s costs to parents, partners, and children, Holding On considers how research that breaks the false dichotomy between offender and parent, inmate and partner, and victim and perpetrator might help to inform a next generation of public policies that truly support vulnerable families.