Exploring the experiences of african american women who provide direct services to african american nonresidential f

1. International Fatherhood Conference June 16, 2010 Latrice Rollins Women in Fatherhood, Inc. Exploring the experiences of africanamerican women who provide direct services to africanamerican nonresidential fathers

2. Nonresidential fathers: Fathers who do not live in the same household as their child. This is a diverse group of fathers that includes divorced, teen, and unmarried fathers (Dudley & Stone, 2001). • Responsible fatherhood programs: These programs encourage “personal responsibility of nonresidential fathers to their children and increase the participation of fathers in the lives of their children” (Solomon-Fears, 2005). • Fatherhood service providers: Individuals that work to “meet discrete needs and provide specific services for different kinds of fathers” (Mincy & Pouncy, 2002). Definitions

3. What are the common motivations of African American women who are fatherhood service providers? • In what ways do gender, race, and socioeconomic status (power issues) affect their ability to create successful helping relationships with African American nonresidential fathers? • How do African American women who are fatherhood service providers negotiate issues of power and authority in their professional relationships with African American nonresidential fathers? Research Questions

4. Women in Fatherhood Predominance of women in helping professions Outsider-within perspective Essential Voices. Collective Mission.

5. African American nonresidential fathers are a population at-risk. • African American nonresidential fathers are generally excluded from social work education, practice, research, and policy. • There is a lack of research on power relations within African American female practitioner-male client relationships. Significance of the study

6. Critical qualitative research: • “Tool that serves dual purposes: knowledge development and promotion of change” (Banks-Wallace, 2000) • Theoretical framework: Womanist and postmodern theories • Semi-structured interviews • Data analysis: Constant comparative method • Research sites: Atlanta, Alexandria, Baltimore, Milwaukee, New Orleans, & Washington, D.C. methodology

7. Research Sites

8. Research Sites

9. Age Range: 25 to 61 years of age • Marital Status: 7 married, 4 divorced, & 2 single • Children: 9 have children • Educational Background: Social Work, Psychology, Human Services, Criminal Justice/ Law, & Political Science /Business Administration • Area of Focus: Child Support, Fatherhood, Healthy Marriage, Parent Education, Domestic Violence, Access & Visitation, Private Practice • Years in Current Position: 1 to 10 years Participants

10. Fostering Equity • Equity in Services • Equity in Parenting • Fostering Change • Individual • Children & Families • Community & Society Findings-Job Motivation

11. FOSTERING EQUITY FOSTERING CHANGE After ten years of working in child support and seeing that the issues don’t change- the noncustodial parent has all kinds of problems that are never addressed- I figured that would be a good place to start trying to make a difference. Queen, Alexandria, LA In the back of my mind, there’s always the thought and the feeling that I want to see my community grow stronger. To build it up. I have a sincere desire to be a help to families and to fathers. When you help fathers, you are helping families, which helps the community, helps the region, and helps the world. Lola, Atlanta, GA

12. Fostering Equity- Equity in Services Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing (2003): 38 percent did not graduate from high school, 50 percent have been incarcerated, and 6 percent report drug/alcohol use that interferes with work/family responsibilities Some of the current study’s participants reported: Atlanta- 31 percent did not have a high school diploma or GED, 91 percent had criminal records, 71 percent reported substance abuse issues, 23 percent reported mental health issues New Orleans- 80 percent had criminal backgrounds Baltimore- 78 percent did not have a high school diploma or GED

13. Fostering Equity-Equity in Services Handler and Hasenfeld (1997): “…we target for treatment the worse cases-teenage mothers who have dropped out of school and are probably living in independent households-and we ignore most of the young women who live in high-risk conditions. We do so because of the symbolic value of such programs. They demonstrate our commitment to uphold dominant family values while showing that we are doing something abut the worst offenders. In fact, we design policies and programs with built-in self-fulfilling prophecies. Such programs that target the difficult cases as we have seen produce little success and reinforce the image of teenage mothers as incorrigible deviants.”

14. Fostering Equity- Equity in Parenting I would be considered a fatherhood advocate- probably one of a few women. I really believe that men, especially men of color, have been given a bad rap in a lot of cases. I would listen to the negativity around when fatherhood programs first came out. People would say ‘Male involvement? Well, what about mothers?’ -Hope, Milwaukee, WI “It’s not just about the mommas…” (Julion et. al., 2007) In fact, participants shared that some mothers acted as barriers to father involvement.

15. Fostering Change

16. Fostering Change- Community & Society “We know that at the end of the day we are making a difference in somebody’s life who is going to make a difference in someone else’s life.”- Pudin, Washington, D.C. Generative aspects of fatherhood (generative fathering) Fathers go on to meet the needs of their children, the next generation, and engage other men in the community. (Dollahite & Hawkins, 1998; Vann, 2007)

17. Being Women • Advantages • Feminine Perspective • Mother Nature • Challenges • Initial Resistance • Raw Truth Findings-Issues of Power

18. Advantages challenges They always try to bash the women and [the male facilitator] always agrees that it’s important for me to be there to shed light on the woman’s side and for him to stay focused because he will fall into that [bashing the women] too. Drucilla, New Orleans, LA I think the most negative experience that I’ve had was a father who just could not stop calling the mother a bad word. I mean even if he was saying something good- well it was never good. But it was “that ‘b’, that ‘b’.” It was never my baby mother or her name. There was just such…anger . Pudin, Washington, D.C.

19. Being Women-Feminine Perspective Some fathers might have a fear of losing face when working with male practitioners. Majors et al. (1994) coined the term “cool pose” Brothers say ‘Hey brotha,’ still trying to be cool. So fathers put on that mask…That’s the advantage that we have as sisters, we help them deal with that [pain behind the mask]- Hope, Milwaukee, WI

20. Being Women- Mother Nature Gender transferences and countertransferences Clients’ unconscious reactions to practitioners Practitioners’ subjective treatment of clients Maternal transferences and countertransferences Mothering described as “powerful versions of nurturing” (Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2002) Clients’ independence has to be a consideration

21. Being Women- Initial Resistance All new relationships with persons in authority or positions of power begin tentatively African American men have a justifiable and “healthy mistrust” of practitioners and programs Respect and trust are some of the keys to overcoming this initial resistance

22. Being Women- Raw Truth A strategy in working with overwhelmed populations is called “truth saying” (Hopps & Pinderhughes, 1999) Participants helped fathers address issues around: “Raw” language Anger/ “Rage” Domestic Violence Homicide Childhood Trauma/Abuse

23. Being Familiar • Engaging • Modeling Findings-issues of power (cont’d.)

24. engaging modeling • Because I am of the same race, I look like their mother, their sister, their brother or I resemble somebody that they can connect to…I think that’s significant and I think that’s one thing that resonates with them…Our spirits connect, our souls connect on whatever level. Pudin, Washington, D.C. • Its funny because a lot of my guys will say ‘I just want to do what you do Ms. Dawn. I just want to do what you do…’ I say, ‘Okay, here’s what it takes…I’m willing to help you do it.’ Dawn, Baltimore, MD

25. Being Familiar- Engaging Similarities in race tend to help clients trust and self-disclose. The diversity of African American experiences must be recognized in practice.

26. Being Familiar- Modeling Practitioners who are “know who they are” and have “got themselves together” serve as effective practitioners and role models for clients Differences in education and socioeconomic background did not distance the women from their clients

27. Finding Balance • Compassion & Confrontation • Personal & Professional Findings-Negotiating Power

28. Compassion & confrontation Personal & professional • I think you have to be somewhat firm in dealing with men. But I think we also have to have some compassion for them and kind of balance it because you can’t be too friendly- Know what happens. And you can’t be too…stern or too strict either. You have to find a combination of compassion and nurturing with firmness and making sure that they’re following the rules. Queen, Alexandria, LA • …you really have to learn to separate what you personally feel from what you actually do professionally. That’s probably more difficult to do than to say but it’s crucial and it’s critical to working with a disadvantaged population in general. Dawn, Baltimore, MD

29. Finding Balance- Compassion & Confrontation Compassion through active listening and assistance Too much compassion can lead to: Not being taken seriously Erotic transferences Confrontation through accountability once the helping relationship is established The practitioner’s vested interest in the client’s wellbeing has to be clear Clients cannot be viewed as overly fragile

30. Finding Balance- Personal & Professional Women discouraged an inappropriate use of self and emphasized that practitioners must “keep their personal stuff at home” and/or “deal with their own stuff” At the same time, personal experience is valued.

31. Meeting Them • Social • Spatial Findings-Negotiating Power (Cont’d.)

32. social spatial • You have to relate to the people. If you can’t relate to them and understand where they’re at and meet them where they’re at, then your chance of helping them move forward is null to none. Angela, Milwaukee, WI • The majority of the fathers here are African American men. I would have to say that about ninety percent of the men are African American because I believe where we’re located is African American. Carmen, Milwaukee, WI

33. Meeting Them- Social Fathers will participate in services if it meets their needs Understanding the social, economic, cultural, historical contexts that impact clients’ lives Flexibility is one of the keys to effective practice

34. Meeting Them-Spatial Marsiglio, Roy & Fox (2005) developed a spatially sensitive perspective on fathering Responsible fatherhood programs are considered “safe spaces” for fathers The majority of the women in this study worked in community-based programs Street outreach Trusted locations

35. Education: Continuing Education & Curriculum Content • Practice: Supervision, Support, and Staff Development/Assessment • Policy: Justice-based policies implications

36. Questions? Latrice Rollins latricerollins@womeninfatherhood.org Women in Fatherhood, Inc. website: www.womeninfatherhood.org Facebook: Friends and Cause pages Twitter: WmninFthrhood