Louise Bordeaux Silverstein

Deconstructing the Essential Father.

Neoconservative social scientists have claimed that fathers are essential to positive child development and that responsible fathering is nzost likely to occur within the context of lzeterosexual nzarriage. This perspective is generating a range of go\,ernmental initiatives designed to provide social support preferences to fathers over mothers and to heterosexual married couples over alternative family forms. The authors propose that the neoconservative position is an incorrect or oversimplified interpretation of empirical research. Using a wide range of cross-species, cross-cultural, and social science research, the authors argue that neither rnothers nor fathers are essential to child developnlent and that responsible fathering can occur within a v a r i e ~ of family structures. The authors conclude with alternative recorltmendations for encouraging responsible fathering that do rzot discriminate against mothers and diverse family forms.

Contemporary fathers reconstructing masculinity: Clinical implications of gender role strain

How can research data about gender role strain improve clinical work with men? The authors present qualitative data from 3 groups of fathers in the Yeshiva University Fatherhood Project: Haitian American, Promise Keeper, and gay fathers. The data illustrate the specific types of gender role strain associated with contemporary fathering and show how men are spontaneously reconstructing fathering and masculinity in general. The authors use clinical examples to show how psychologists can make use of this research knowledge in the diagnosis and treatment of men.

Gay Fathers Expanding the Possibilities for Us All

Abstract This article describes a qualitative research study of 21 men who became fathers as openly gay men. The fathers were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire in a focus group format. The data were analyzed using grounded theory methodology. The narrative data depict the mens paths toward fatherhood. The themes elicited from their narratives suggested how gay men are changing traditional cultural norms for fathers, families, and masculinity. The authors propose that by degendering parenting, reconceptualizing family, and reworking masculine gender roles, gay fathers are expanding role norms in novel ways that may serve as alternative models for all families.

Using qualitative research to strengthen clinical practice.

What does qualitative research have to offer individual practitioners? The authors in this special section argue that qualitative research is particularly suited to enhancing clinical practice because it generates a rich description of both local contexts and individual subjective experiences. This rich description can then be used to improve clinical practice and also to generate knowledge about both the process and the outcome of psychological services. In this first article, we provide an overview of the qualitative research paradigm and the many different kinds of qualitative methodologies that exist, discuss how it can be adapted to clinical practice, and provide an example of a qualitative study that practitioners can accomplish. The two articles that follow describe specific examples of qualitative work in more depth. The Qualitative Paradigm

Listening to Parents' Voices: Participatory Action Research in the Schools

How can schools and parents work together more effectively? This article describes a participatory action research (PAR) project with a group of parents whose children had been classified as having emotional disabilities. As the parents shared their stories of trying to navigate the special education system, they developed critical consciousness about their experiences of stress, powerlessness, and alienation. They became mobilized and obtained information about testing, diagnostic classification, and educational options for their children. Armed with this information, they developed and implemented an action plan to improve family-school relationships at the local, community, and state levels. The article concludes with an example of how the PAR model can be exported to a variety of mental health settings. Family-school collaboration is an approach that virtually every- one supports but few know how to implement successfully. Al- though all children benefit from parent involvement (Dauber & Epstein, 1993), it is particularly important for economically dis- advantaged and ethnic minority families. Unfortunately, these are the families with whom school personnel have the most difficulty developing effective partnerships (Moles, 1993). Outcome re- search has suggested that schools and mental health agencies have frequently failed to establish meaningful partnerships with families because the professional staff and the families come from different socioeconomic, ethnic, and racial backgrounds. Given these dif- ferences, there is sometimes little connection between the way that professionals think about the services they provide and the con- cerns and experiences of the families who actually receive those services. The staff and the families too often become engaged in a cultural clash rather than an effective collaboration. This is especially true in the area of special education. Tradi- tional approaches to working with families of children classified with emotional disabilities have tended to blame, marginalize, or ignore them (Koroloff, Friesen, Reilly, & Rinkin, 1996). Research has demonstrated that schools have difficulties supporting involve- ment of parents of children classified with emotional disabilities in the schools (Osher, Quinn, & Hanley, 2002). In this article, we describe a participatory action research (PAR) project involving a school psychologist and a group of parents whose children had been characterized as having emotional dis- abilities. We present this project as an example of the potential of PAR to increase collaboration between parents and school person- nel, improve services to children, and generate a model for effec- tive staff-family partnerships. This model can be implemented not only in schools but also in a variety of clinical settings. The project also illustrates how collaborative research builds social and cul- tural capital for individuals and communities.

Do Promise Keepers Dream of Feminist Sheep

This article describes a qualitative researchstudy of Promise Keeper fathers. Twenty-two middleclass, primarily White suburban fathers were interviewedin focus groups abouttheir fathering experiences. The grounded theory analysis found that the menwere experiencing gender role strain as they tried toconform to traditional masculine role norms. The PromiseKeeper movement provided them with an ideology and social supportsystem that facilitated theirbecoming more involved fathers, while simultaneouslyreassuring them that they were the leaders of theirfamilies. Using these supports, the men were able to construct a more personally gratifyingfatherhood identity. These results suggest a possibleinterpretation of why the Promise Keeper movement hasappealed to more men than has the pro-feminist mens movement.

Expanding the Mother-Child Paradigm An Examination of Dissertation Research 1986–1994

Reliance on the mother-child dyad as the primary context for understanding child development has caused fathers to be underrepresented in published research on child development and developmental psychopathology. In order to investigate whether this pattern was also evident in the work of future psychologists, we reviewed Dissertation Abstracts from 1986 through 1994. Results showed that fathers were the focus of significantly fewer dissertation studies (10.5%) than were mothers (59.5%) or both parents (30.0%). We argue that essentializing the mother-child bond is a political philosophy about the roles of men and women that places the discipline of psychology at risk for inadvertently becoming an apologist for the neoconservative political right. Specific suggestions for revising graduate training are presented. The social policy implications for continuing this trend into the next generation of psychologists are discussed.

Disclosing Genetic Information to Family Members About Inherited Cardiac Arrhythmias: An Obligation or a Choice?

Inherited cardiac arrhythmias such as long QT syndrome and Brugada syndrome, present clinical as well as ethical, legal, and social challenges. Many individuals who carry a deleterious mutation are largely asymptomatic and therefore may not be diagnosed until after the occurrence of a personal or family member’s cardiac event. The familial nature of inherited genetic information raises numerous ethical, legal, and social issues regarding the sharing of genetic information, particularly when an individual found to carry a deleterious mutation refuses to disclose his or her results to at-risk family members who could benefit from life-saving treatments. This qualitative study sought to understand the experiences with genetic testing for individuals (n = 50) with a personal or family history of cardiac events or sudden death. Unstructured in-person focus groups or interviews were conducted for each participant in the study. The recordings of these interviews were transcribed verbatim and subsequently analyzed and coded. Participants’ comments regarding sharing of genetic information centered around four main themes: (1) motivation to disclose; (2) extent of disclosure; (3) effect of disclosure on family dynamics; and (4) reasons for not sharing genetic information. The majority of individuals believed that affected individuals are obligated to disclose genetic information to family members. In the era of personalized medicine, the disclosure of genetic information provides individuals the opportunities to learn about the genetics, disease characteristics, and treatment options in order to reduce morbidity and mortality in themselves and their family members. Further research is necessary to identify and explore the barriers to sharing genetic information with at-risk family members.

Translating Advances in Cardiogenetics Into Effective Clinical Practice

In this article we describe a qualitative research study in which we explored individuals’ subjective experiences of both genetic testing and cardiogenetic disorders. Using a grounded theory approach, we coded and analyzed interview and focus group transcripts from 50 participants. We found that just under half of the participants who received their diagnosis during the study reported difficulty understanding information about both the purpose of genetic testing and their cardiac disease. A high level of anxiety about genetic testing and cardiac symptoms exacerbated individuals’ cognitive confusion. Participants reported both positive and negative interactions with the medical community, depending on health care professionals’ knowledge of cardiogenetic disorders. Overall, participants expressed a range of attitudes—positive, negative, and ambivalent—toward genetic testing. We conclude with a discussion of the barriers to achieving effective clinical care for genetic conditions and offer suggestions for improving collaborative decision making between physicians and patients.

Gender Issues in Family Therapy and Couples Counseling

Although this is a handbook on “gender,” and a chapter on “gender issues,” we believe it is important to focus on feminism. Feminism is a conceptual framework that subsumes gender because it focuses on gendered differences in power and privilege. Scholars who focus on gender often limit their discussion to gender differences in behaviors and ignore differences in power and privilege.