Fathering from the Margins: An Intimate Examination of Black Fatherhood

Stereotypes of black men as deadbeat dads persist, despite sociological research showing that their level of engagement with children is equal to or higher than average. In Fathering from the Margins, Aasha M. Abdill draws on four years of fieldwork in low-income, predominantly black Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, to challenge these assumptions and demonstrate the increasing presence of black fathers in their communities. She argues that changing social norms about gender roles in black families have shifted fathering behaviors and presents qualitative and quantitative evidence to support this claim. Black men face social and structural disadvantages, such as disproportionate unemployment and incarceration, which have implications for family life. Abdill suggests that supporting black men in their quest to be and be seen as family men is key to securing their children's well-being and their own.

Format: Hardback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 12 June 2018
Publisher: Columbia University Press

Despite a decade of sociological research documenting that black fathers' level of engagement with their children is equal to or higher than average, stereotypes of black men as deadbeat dads still shape popular perceptions and scholarly discourse. In Fathering from the Margins, the sociologist Aasha M. Abdill draws on four years of fieldwork in low-income, predominantly black Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, to dispel these destructive assumptions. She considers the obstacles faced and the strategies used by black men with children.

Abdill presents qualitative and quantitative evidence that confirms the increasing presence of black fathers in their communities, arguing that changing social norms about gender roles in black families have shifted fathering behaviors. Black men in communities such as Bed-Stuy still face social and structural disadvantages, including disproportionate unemployment and incarceration, with significant implications for family life. Against this backdrop, black fathers attempt to reconcile contradictory beliefs about what makes one a good father and what makes one a respected man by developing different strategies for expressing affection and providing parental support. Black men's involvement with their children is affected by the attitudes of their peers, the media, and especially the women of their families and communities: from the grandmothers who often become gatekeepers to involvement in a child's life to the female-dominated sectors of childcare, primary school, and family-service provision.

Abdill shows how supporting black men in their quest to be and be seen as family men is the key to securing not only their children's well-being but also their own.

Weight: 518g
Dimension: 236 x 166 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780231180023