John Henry and the Paradox of Manhood, Fatherhood and Health for African American Fathers

Cornish, Emily K.; McKissic, Sydika A.; Dean, Donnatesa A. L.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-43847-4_13

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…There is a need to expand the definition of fatherhood to include the preconception and conception periods to better understand men’s experiences with pregnancy (Xue et al, 2018) and to develop and standardize the practice of disseminating and promoting the utilization of resources, such as The Father Advocacy Toolkit , that provides a general understanding of the perinatal periods, nutrition, breastfeeding, and negative warning signs, in maternal and infant health. During this time, it also is critical to screen for and monitor the father’s mental health, which is strongly influenced by the constraints of paid work, the ages of their children, and the relationship with their child’s mother (Griffith et al, 2016). Practitioners and policy makers should work to engage fathers as early in the pregnancy as possible, monitor father’s mental health and financial stress, and provide resources to educate fathers on maternal health, pregnancy and childbirth, and fathers’ rights, roles, and responsibilities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fathers’ Perspectives on Fatherhood and Paternal Involvement During Pregnancy and Childbirth

Griffith,

Jaeger,

Pepperman

et al. 2023

Health Educ Behav

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There is limited research that specifically explores paternal involvement during pregnancy and childbirth. To address this gap, we completed a series of focus groups with fathers to examine social, cultural, and environmental factors that influence behaviors among new fathers while also providing community perspectives on men’s experiences seeking care pre- and postdelivery. We used a phenomenological thematic approach to analyze data from 10 focus groups from five of the six Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health-Community Care Initiative pilot sites collected between November 2021 and April 2022. The average age of fathers was 33.9 years (range = 24–61 years). The majority (86.25%) of men were African American, and approximately one sixth of focus group participants (16.25%) were Hispanic or Latino. Four key themes emerged: the importance and meaning of fatherhood, accessibility during pregnancy and childbirth, engagement during pregnancy and childbirth, and responsibility of fathers during pregnancy and childbirth. These fathers not only understood and embraced the awesome responsibility they had for their unborn child, but they also recognized and were invested in being present, accessible, engaged, and responsible to the pregnant woman during the pregnancy. Practitioners and policy makers should work to engage fathers as early in the pregnancy as possible; monitor father’s mental health and financial stress; provide resources to educate fathers on maternal health, pregnancy, and childbirth; and emphasize fathers’ rights, roles, and responsibilities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fathers’ Perspectives on Fatherhood and Paternal Involvement During Pregnancy and Childbirth

Griffith,

Jaeger,

Pepperman

et al. 2023

Health Educ Behav

Self Cite

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“…Bowman’s critical assessment of the existing literature led to a focus on adaptive coping among Black fathers. Bowman’s transformative research on role strain and coping, which reflected the sociohistorical and cultural contexts that surrounded Black men, has continued to provide support for studies that explore intersections of masculinity and fathering, with studies ranging from youth to adult samples of Black men and fathers (Caldwell et al, 2016; Gadsden & Trent, 1995; Griffith et al, 2016; Hammond & Mattis, 2005; Hunter & Davis, 1994; Rowley & Bowman, 2009; Watkins et al, 2011).…”

Section: Thematic Contributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Investigations have explored how fathering contexts aand roles are associated with men’s health outcomes (e.g., Griffith et al, 2016; Johnson & Briggs, 2021; Randolph et al, 2017; Watkins et al, 2011). In particular, studies have demonstrated that Black men’s masculine identities are linked to their fathering role identities, and they judge their effectiveness in their role as fathers based on their ability to care for their children and families (Caldwell, Wright, et al, 2004; Cooper et al, 2021; Edin et al, 2009; Tach et al, 2010; Williams, 2007).…”

Section: Thematic Contributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Honoring foundational Black psychologists' contributions to research on Black fathers.

Cooper¹,

Thomas²,

Harty³

et al. 2023

American Psychologist

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Much of the early psychological research on Black fathers and families employed a deficit lens, pathologizing Black fathers as absent and uninvolved contributors to their children's development. As a response, several Black psychologists articulated the need to move away from deficitbased approaches and employ strengths-based and adaptive frameworks to examine the social experiences of Black fathers and their contributions to child development. This transformative work was not only central to advancing research on Black fathers but also a cornerstone in the broader fathering literature. Though the list of foundational architects of Black fatherhood scholarship spans disciplines, we center this article around the contributions of eight Black psychologists-Drs.

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“…This work has been critical in highlighting how the intersection of these identities further complicates the categories or identities that remain marginalized and invisible, and how men embody gender in the context of dynamic cultural ideals and social structures in ways that create new configurations of practice, in particular, local situations and contexts, whereby diverse groups of men are negotiating different ways of being their own gendered selves ( Lusher & Robins, 2009 ). Griffith and colleagues have highlighted the critical role that age or phase of life plays in relation to structures that shape Black men’s health in ways that foreground their efforts to embody positive and prosocial ideals of manhood ( Griffith, 2015 ; Griffith & Cornish, 2016 ; Griffith, Cornish, Bergner, Bruce, & Beech, 2017 ; Griffith, Cornish, McKissic, & Dean, 2016 ; Griffith et al, 2013 ; Griffith, Gunter, & Allen, 2011 ). Yet the stress of their engagement with educational, economic, social, and legal systems may drive the high rates of premature mortality and physiological aging that have become synonymous with Black men’s health ( Bruce, Griffith, & Thorpe Jr, 2015a ; Bruce, Griffith, & Thorpe Jr, 2015b ; Thorpe Jr, Duru, & Hill, 2015 ; Thorpe Jr & Kelley-Moore, 2013 ; Thorpe et al, 2016 ).…”

Section: Centering the Margins: The Promise Of Intersectionality In Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Centering the Margins”: Moving Equity to the Center of Men’s Health Research

Griffith

2018

Am J Mens Health

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How might the science of men’s health progress if research on marginalized or subordinated men is moved from the margins of the literature to the center? This commentary seeks to answer this question, suggesting that if more attention is paid to men of color and other marginalized men, the field will be greatly enriched in its ability to understand determinants of men’s health. Reimagining men’s health by moving men’s health disparities to a primary focus of the field may yield critical new insights that would be essential to moving men’s health to the center of health equity research. Focusing on the dual goals of improving the health of marginalized men and examining the determinants of disparities among men and between men and women will yield insights into mechanisms, pathways, and strategies to improve men’s health and address health disparities. Current definitions of health disparities limit the nation’s ability to dedicate resources to populations that need attention—men of color and other marginalized men—that do not fit these definitions. Moving marginalized men to the center of research in men’s health will foster new ways of understanding determinants of men’s health that cannot be identified without focusing on populations of men whose health is as influenced by race, ethnicity, and other structures of marginalization as it is by gender and masculinities. Using Black men as a case example, the article illustrates how studying marginalized men can refine the study of men’s health and health equity.

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John Henry and the Paradox of Manhood, Fatherhood and Health for African American Fathers

Cited by 4 publications

References 52 publications

Fathers’ Perspectives on Fatherhood and Paternal Involvement During Pregnancy and Childbirth

Fathers’ Perspectives on Fatherhood and Paternal Involvement During Pregnancy and Childbirth

Honoring foundational Black psychologists' contributions to research on Black fathers.

“Centering the Margins”: Moving Equity to the Center of Men’s Health Research

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