A QUALITATIVE INQUIRY OF FATHERING IN THE RURAL CONTEXT OF APPALACHIAN VIRGINIA

Virginia Polytechnic Inst And St Univ, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

Given the increasing evidence of the benefits of father involvement, it is important to understand the contributing factors to supporting father involvement and enhancing parenting skills (Cabrera, Shannon, & Tamis-LeMonda, 2007; Martin, Ryan, & Brooks-Gunn, 2010). This is of particular importance due to the limited research that has investigated intervention programs that consider fathering. An area that has been emerging in the fathering research is the role of complex contextual factors in influencing identities and behaviors. Life events and transitions provide an opportunity to study variation and change in fathering. Fathering an infant is a time of change and transition in the father's life course. To address the current research gaps in the fathering literature, this qualitative study has the following aims: 1. Identify the identity processes of fathering an infant in a rural Appalachian sample. 2. Gain knowledge on possible variations of father involvement that can inform typologies of fathering considering contexts of co-parenting, diversity, life situations, and culture. 3. Identify the roles that contextual factors may play in the process of fathering and father involvement. 4. Identify the points of intervention that will encourage participation and retention in parenting programs for fathers of infants in a rural context by identifying participants' needs and desires in regards to parenting education. This study is theoretically informed by symbolic interactionism and intersectionality and will employ the methodology of constructivist grounded theory. Results will further the scholarship through a deeper understanding of father involvement and father identity in a specific rural context. Implications of this research will result in recommendations for family strengthening practitioners, researchers, and policy makers.