Thesis (Ph. D.)--Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, IN, 2001. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 537-546) and indexes.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2003. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-146).

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing in Advanced Practice

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Parent involvement in education (PI) is widely documented to benefit children’s educational outcomes. PI is a multidimensional construct that takes many different forms. This study considered three dimensions of PI: Home-Based Involvement, School-Based Involvement, and Home-School Communication. Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler have created a theoretical model that seeks to explain what motivates parents to engage in PI and the mechanisms by which PI benefits children’s educational outcomes. However, research studies that have used Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler’s model used samples that consisted primarily of mothers with fathers typically representing less than 10% of the sample. Father involvement in education has been shown to benefit children’s educational outcomes over and above the involvement of mothers. However, there is little known about the PI practices in which fathers engage, or what motivates fathers to engage in PI. Using Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler’s model, this study aimed to investigate fathers’ PI practices, as well as the variables that motivate fathers to engage in PI. An online survey was conducted and 185 fathers completed the survey in full. Results of the survey suggest that fathers engaged most often in Home-Based Involvement, less in Home-School Communication, and least often in School-Based Involvement practices. Fathers’ belief that it is their role to engage in PI (role construction) and requests from the child to engage in PI consistently explained all three types of PI. Other variables that significantly explained Home-Based Involvement included the father’s biological relationship with the child, and whether the father lived with the child’s mother. School-Based Involvement was significantly explained by father’s perceptions of available time and energy and their biological relationship to the child. The ultimate purpose of this study was to provide educators with information they can use to successfully increase fathers’ PI practices for students at their schools. / text

The goal of this study was to learn more about the experience of Canadian military fathers who participated in a fathers' support group entitled "With Dads Around, Kids Are Sound." An explorative, semi-structured, qualitative design was applied to gain understanding of the participants' perspectives. The sample consisted of seven military fathers. The researcher also interviewed three wives in an attempt to corroborate some of the findings. The two main reasons that brought fathers into the group were role conflict and wanting to prevent family problems. Based on comments received, the program was found to be effective in supporting military fathers. Key elements noted by participants include normalization, peer support, and learning ways to prevent dysfunctional family patterns. Recommendations to improve the program include making it a continuous opportunity---including a specific chapter on military lifestyle---and being more flexible with the content to allow for more peer support-type discussion. Implications for social work practice, policy, and research are also discussed.

This dissertation explores the gendered division of childcare in terms of concepts of the father and examines how these concepts have impacted on the production of women artists in the history of western art. The survey is restricted to western culture and is subdivided, according to changes in concepts of the father, into roughly three periods: the era of the pre-modern father, the era of the modern ideology regarding the mother, and the postmodern era, in which a new concept of the father was articulated. / Thesis (M.A.F.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

This paper uses the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) to compare academic achievement of children in two-parent, single mother and single father families. Academic achievement is measured by a math and reading composite score from a standardized achievement test. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models are used to test three competing theories of children's academic achievement: economic theory, individualistic perspective of gender and evolutionary parental investment theory. Findings do not support the evolutionary parental investment theory. The economic theory, which states that single fathers are more capable of offering economic resources to their children compared to single mothers, is supported. This economic advantage of children in single father families allows children in this family type to achieve at the same level as (keep up with) children in single mother families. The individual perspective of gender, which states that children in single mother families fare better because women fulfill the caregiver and homemaker roles, is supported by this study. It is also possible that other factors play a role in differing levels of academic achievement between children in different family types. / Department of Sociology

This research explored positive paternal involvement in the lives of children within the broader familial context of marital dynamics and positive maternal involvement. The National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) was used to obtain a longitudinal subsample of 582 first-married couples, as well as the wide range of variables necessary to explore this broader context of paternal influence. Three research questions guided the study: (I) What is the unique contribution of positive paternal involvement-with respect to positive maternal involvement and marital quality- in children's development? (2) How does the influence of positive paternal involvement interact with the influence of positive maternal involvement and marital quality to influence children 's development? (3) To what degree do fathers indirectly influence their children via the marital relationship and the mother-child relationship? Analysis demonstrated little evidence of fathers' unique contribution to children's aggressive/antisocial behavior, school problems, and other outcomes. Similarly, analysis demonstrated no indirect effects for paternal involvement across the 4-5 years span between Wave I and Wave 2 of the NSFH. Specifically, fathers' involvement did not indirectly affect children's outcomes via either the marital relationship or maternal involvement. However, limitations relating to internal reliability rendered findings questionable. Analysis also demonstrated a limited pattern of interaction effects between paternal involvement measures and marital and maternal variables. Specifically, Wave 2 paternal positive activities demonstrated meaningful interactions with maternal positive activities, marital happiness, and marital conflict, with respect to their influence on children's aggressive/antisocial behavior. interaction between paternal positive activities and marital variables indicated that paternal involvement is capable of interacting with other aspects of family context in ways which have both positive and negative consequences for children. Future research efforts address ing these questions should assess parental involvement in greater depth and breath, incorporating a framework capable of addressing both parental warmth and control. Similarly, future research should consider methods capable of addressing multicolinearity resulting from parallel paternal and maternal variables. Finally, future research should explore the various ways in which paternal involvement interacts with other sources of influence within families to impact the lives of children.

Attitudes of middle class mothers and fathers toward nursery school education were measured and compared. The subjects were parents of children who attended the Utah State University nursery school. A scale was developed to test parental attitudes. Attitudes toward nursery school education were definitely favorable. Comparison of attitudes expressed by mothers with those expressed by fathers revealed significant differences between the two groups, when the total number of responses of all scale items were considered together. The total scale included 48 items comprising three subscales , which tested the following parental attitudes toward nursery school education: attitudes concerning a child's independence or dependence as it relates to nursery school attendance , attitudes pertaining to the value that the nursery school has for a child, and attitudes toward the care and guidance of a child while at nursery school. Comparisons of attitudes of mothers and fathers in each of these three areas disclosed that there was no significant difference between the two groups in attitudes expressed. Mean scores of mothers and fathers were 77.4 and 76.2, respectively. The scale used to measure attitudes was found to discriminate significantly between the high and low scoring subjects. However, an item analysis of the scale revealed few individual items which could discriminate significantly between the high and low scoring subjects.