Heather Lawford, Mike Pratt, Anna Dienhart & Annie Devault (October, 2008)

1. Fatherhood as life transformation: Comparing young and mature fathers on themes of generativity and identity change Heather Lawford, Mike Pratt, Anna Dienhart & Annie Devault (October, 2008)

2. Defining and Staging Generativity • Generativity vs. stagnation as a midlife stage in personality development according to Erikson • Defined as a) care and commitment to future generations, b) as a legacy of the self • Parenting as key context for generative expression (though not the only one) • To what extent do such generative concerns become salient before mid-life?

3. Generativity, the Life Story and the Redemptive Self • Dan McAdams (2006) - adults use life story as a way to make meaning and create an identity • McAdams argues that life stories of North American adults often focus on redemption themes …stories of moving from bad events to good outcomes • Generative adults are particularly likely to tell redemptive themes, and to use this story to sustain a sense of commitment under difficult circumstances • We used this framework to explore the fatherhood experience in men’s life stories, as interpreted in the FIRA interviews

4. Life Stories of “Going Straight” from Incarcerated (Maruna, 1999) • Analyzed a set of autobiographies written by incarcerated people who had eventually gotten and stayed out of prison • Key theme that preceded this success was finding a new sense of generative purpose, usually through helping others • This new purpose provided a redemptive transformation in the life story, a marker of change and growth that could be pointed to in making sense of their life story

5. Previous Studies of Impact of Fathering as a Life Change • Cowan (1991) highlighted impact of parenting on men’s development • John Snarey (1993) showed that fatherhood can be a particularly strong opportunity for men to grow into generative care and concern for youth in wider society • Roy & McAdams (2006) found that disadvantaged men reported generativity through fatherhood provided them with a second chance to overcome a difficult past • Qualitative studies indicate that fatherhood can be a positive transformation in identity for adolescent males (Devault et al., 2008; Frewin et al., 2007; Reeves, 2008)

6. Fatherhood and Adult Development (Palkovitz, 2002) • highlights the impact of parenting on adult development • found several themes in the stories of a general sample of fathers, including “settling down” after being in trouble, being more giving of the self and accepting responsibility that could provide a sense of transformation • described some fathers as experiencing a “jolt” in their life course, requiring rapid adjustment, change and/or refocus to their life course (especially young fathers)

7. FIRA Methods and Data • About 200 individual interviews were conducted across the 7 clusters in total • A fairly standard set of questions was asked, though with some variation • Key questions: what get out of being a father, what does child get from you, positive and negative experiences of fathering, … • 35 or so young dads were interviewed, with almost all men becoming fathers before age 20 • Many were unmarried, divorced, or separated

8. Analyzing Generativity and Identity Change in the FIRA Transcripts • Focused on sense of purpose for fathers as key content • Read for initially by a group of research assistants, who sorted content into several generative theme categories, • Our team then read all of these comments and the entire transcripts of young dads + samples of men from other clusters • Particularly focused here on comparison of young dads with other clusters because interested in early presence of generativity theme and sense of purpose in parenting

9. Stories of Fatherhood as a Transformation of Self • Overall theme of redemption was common, fatherhood changing earlier lives into something better - Young Dad: “It has changed my life because before I became a father I used to think love revolved around me, it is only me. It has to be me and now I have two little ones and I have to look after them. …. Not me, you know.” • Three specific themes of earlier life problems and how these were changed for the better by experience of fatherhood stood out: feeling lost, making trouble, feeling hurt/damaged • These three transformation themes often overlapped to some degree within same interview

10. Examples of Transformation Themes: Finding Purpose • Finding purpose: “It changed a lot of things. From one day to the next, I had to take care of somebody else, not just myself… Becoming a father gave me a goal, and I didn’t feel like everybody else anymore.” • Prefaced by a sense of being “lost,” sense of new identity clear in these comments • Widely apparent among young dads, perhaps an expression of the identity work of adolescence

11. “Settling Down” Theme • Settling down: “I'm not going to pretend that I didn't like the world I was in (drugs) before J. It's stupid to say, but if something happened to J., I would definitely go back to that world. Not because I want to, but because that's how it would be, without J. There'd be nothing holding me back.” • This theme was common in young dads as well as other clusters, a common maturing theme in men • Reported by Palkovitz as common in his interviews with a sample of fathers of all ages as well

12. Overcoming Hurt or Past Damage • Overcoming hurt : “It has changed my life. In a way, it has given me motivation. I grew up without a father and I created this little girl and I would never want her to go through what I went though emotionally. And it has just given me a reason to change my life, to become someone more responsible and more successful for her benefit.” • Perhaps less predominant in young dads cluster, but sometimes present • Readily linked to idea of own family life as negative model for parenting (compensation idea of how one learns from own family experiences)

13. Exploring the Extent of These Three Themes for All Clusters • Many men in other clusters also reported fatherhood was experiences as a transformation from an earlier problematic self to a more positive new state (overall redemption theme) • Most evident in comments on a new sense of purpose (e.g., Indigenous dad: “I think I am here to be her father. Everything (else) that I do is secondary.”) • This theme of growth and transformation can be powerful as a sustaining story through adversity and tough times in fathering

14. Exploring the Boundaries of These Themes • Some men in all groups described more gradual changes, rather than finding an entirely new purpose (Young Dad: “Well, it made me a little bit more responsible for the actions that I take and stuff like that. I think twice about the things that I do, what I say in front of the children. Just that I find it a little bit more, I don’t know how to express that, more secure about things, I feel a little bit more responsible. Actually, I feel a little pressured but I just feel it is my duty so I just try to do the best I can.”) • This was more typical in older dads (see also Palkovitz) • Some (few) men reported feeling that fatherhood had meant little change in their lives

15. Comparing Young Dads and Others on Transformation Themes • Fatherhood as a transforming theme across clusters • The “lost” theme of finding a purpose through fatherhood especially salient for young dads, perhaps because of issues of establishing identity • Negative stereotyping/stigma also a likely factor in strong need to make positive meaning of fatherhood for young dads and some others as well (e.g., indigenous dads, divorced dads) – redemptive story sustain generative fathering in such difficult circumstances • Findings show how fatherhood as a purposive identity is a theme among adolescents as well as older dads

16. Broader Implications • Positive resources and capacities of at least some young adolescent fathers vs. usual view in literature of “dead beat” youth has implications for potential to work with these young men (Devault et al., 2008) • Parenting begins in young adulthood - generativity must emerge in some form in earlier life in family context, not plausible that it can wait until midlife • A more complex view of the development of generativity over the life cycle as a capacity in parents is needed