Session: Overcoming Trauma, Racism, and System Involvement: Highlighting the Parenting Strengths of Fathers from Marginalized Backgrounds (Society for Social Work and Research 29th Annual Conference)

Background and Purpose: Decades of research now show that fathers positively contribute to their children's healthy development and well-being. However, for fathers with marginalized backgrounds (i.e., Black fathers, fathers with trauma histories, and fathers raising children in the context of system involvement), prior research has examined their parenting from a predominantly deficit lens. There is an urgent need to investigate how fathers from marginalized backgrounds overcome multiple barriers to ensure they engage in positive fathering that ultimately benefits their children's healthy development and well-being. Furthermore, research documenting such strength-based processes as directly articulated and reported by fathers is critically needed. To address these research and service gaps, the current symposium theme is focused on highlighting the process of overcoming multiple barriers (i.e., adverse childhood experiences, anti-Black racism, child welfare system involvement) as a key parenting strength of fathers from marginalized backgrounds, using qualitative and quantitative data directly collected from fathers.

Methods: This symposium includes three presentations complementary in their data sources and methodologies. The first study employed photovoice, a community-based participatory research technique in which participant-taken photos and narratives of their lived experiences are translated into actionable knowledge, with 28 Black fathers to explore "The Talk" or racial socialization practices and lessons such fathers teach their children about racism in the United States. The second study used a sample of 872 fathers from the Fathers and Families project. Generalized linear modeling was used to examine the associations between father-reported adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their young and school-aged children's behavior problems. The third study applied the PRISMA-ScR to a scoping review that conducted a comprehensive literature review, with more than 8,000 articles examined across 50 years to understand the role of fathers in promoting the well-being of children specifically involved with the U.S. child welfare system.

Results: The first study showed various themes concerning Black fathers' encounters with racism, lessons they have been taught, and lessons they teach their children. The second study showed associations between fathers' ACEs and child behavior problems, pointing to the need to prevent intergenerational transmission of ACEs. The third study showed and suggested that supporting qualitative aspects of fathering is key to improving well-being outcomes for children involved in the child welfare system.

Conclusion and Implications: This symposium fits well with the SSWR 2025 conference theme of Strengthening Social Impact through Collaborative Research because it highlights successful collaborations and co-creation of knowledge between social worker researchers, community practitioners, and fathers with lived experiences. The symposium offers actionable programmatic and policy solutions to collectively address trauma, racism, and system involvement to support fathers with marginalized backgrounds. Key contributions of the symposium include critical reflection on (1) building successful collaborations with fathers and fatherhood practitioners; (2) recruiting fathers and collecting data from fathers; and (3) directly engaging fathers and community-based organizations in developing antiracist, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed fatherhood practices and policies. The discussant with relevant expertise will speak to leveraging collaborative research to have a long-term positive impact on fathers from marginalized backgrounds and their children.