“It's Gonna be All about How You Couch It:” African American Fathers' Visions of Prevention Interventions for at-Risk Youth
The need to adapt family-based preventions and interventions to incorporate and better meet fathers’ needs has been noted in the parent training literature. Little research, however, exists from the perspective of African American fathers regarding their role and interest in, or their thoughts about the content and logistical considerations associated with such interventions. Therefore, we aim to address this gap in the literature by describing African American fathers’ perceptions of and visions for father-focused programming to support at-risk youth by preventing negative outcomes such as depressive symptoms and aggressive behaviors.
Method
Thirty self-identified, African American, biological fathers of pre-adolescent sons at-risk for developing aggressive behaviors, depressive symptoms or both participated in semi-structured interviews lasting approximately 1-1.5 hours. Fathers were from a small city in the Mid-Atlantic region and its surrounding areas. Based on a topic guide developed a priori, fathers answered questions about their experiences raising their sons, and thoughts about family-based prevention interventions. The current qualitative analysis focuses on the latter. Fathers were compensated $25 for their time. Using an iterative process, a code book was developed and coding was completed by trained research staff. Informed by grounded theory, emergent themes were systematically identified. Inter-rater reliability was set at 75% agreement.
Results
Most fathers articulated benefits of programming for sons, fathers, and the community as a whole. Many noted that both fathers and sons would enjoy interactive programs that involve father-son bonding activities and hands-on experiences, rather than ones that primarily involve talking. Notable was fathers’ emphasis on the importance of both fathers’ and sons’ observations of and positive interactions with other African American fathers and sons. Fathers identified time constraints and work demands as the primary challenges to participation. They also identified fear of participation (e.g., being scared to face problems or hesitant due to their backgrounds) and lack of interest as additional potential challenges for some, but not all fathers. Several fathers also provided suggestions on how to improve involvement of less interested fathers (e.g., focus on benefits to sons; “sugar coat it”). Fathers identified several content areas relevant to both fathers and sons including content on cultural issues (e.g., history, pride and dealing with stereotypes) and managing stress and negative emotions. For fathers, participants emphasized content related dealing with alcohol and drugs, improving parenting skills (especially discipline), and learning better ways to communicate with their son and sons’ mothers around sensitive topics (e.g., sex, girlfriends, gangs, violence). For sons, fathers stressed the need for education, and recommended content focused on teenage pregnancy, the appropriate expression of emotions, conflict resolution, gangs, and violence.
Implications
Fathers often had a limited frames of reference from which to envision father-focused prevention interventions; therefore, fathers’ experiences and recommendations sometimes reflect their prior experiences with other types of programs geared toward youth and fathers (e.g., summer programs; rites of passage; child support; church; counseling; police programs). Despite this, fathers were able to articulate their needs and concerns related to prevention interventions. Implications for policy and practice will be discussed.