Resources
All Resources
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Young and Potential Fathers Initiative (New Toronto Facility Serves Young African-Canadian Men.) (external website)
The Young & Potential Fathers Initiative addresses the cycles of disengagement, lack of resources and lack of visible role models for young racialized fathers in Toronto’s priority neighborhoods, with a specific focus on African Canadians. The initiative, which operates out of Ujima House, a community space located at the intersection of Weston Roadand Lawrence Avenue in the northwest part of Toronto, will strengthen the capacity of individuals, families and the community at large to provide direct support to young fathers and their children. -
Talking to Dads About Bonding (pdf 53kb)
An invitation to practitioners working with fathers to participate in a research project designed to examine the ways in which practitioners explain attachment to fathers and how talking about mother-infant attachment and father-infant may differ. -
Father Factors (What social science research tells us about fathers and how to work with them.) (pdf 948kb)
This report, prepared by FIRA communications coordinator, John Hoffman, with the help of a financial contribution from the Public Health Agency of Canada, summaries and constructs meaning of selected research and other relevant publications with respect to the following themes: • External and contextual influences on the fatherhood role; • The influence of mothers/partners on the fatherhood role; • Father-child attachment/relationships; • Fathers’ influences on mothering in early parenting; • Vulnerable and marginalized fathers; and • Father-oriented programming. Father Factors cites some 130 research articles and other relevant documents, most of were published in the last ten years and about half of which are Canadian. Hard copies of Father Factors are available from the Father Involvement Initiative - Ontario Network (FII-ON), and the BC Council For Families. -
A Conceptual Framework for Orienting Services to Separating or Divorced Fathers (Text version) (pdf 119kb)
The authors have developed a framework for thinking about what kinds of services and programs would be appropriate for separating fathers (which can apply to mothers as well). These fall into three key domains: facilitating fathers’ parenting and their adaptation to structural changes affecting the entire family, the process of emotional and legal separation from a partner/significant other or spouse, and their individual emotional and psycho-social needs. This framework was presented as a research poster in Octobe 2008 at the Father Involvement 2008 Diversity, Visibility, Community conference in Toronto. -
Orienting Services to Separated and Divorced Fathers (Poster) (A conceptual framework) (pdf 44kb)
This poster, presented at Father Involvement 2008, Diversity Visibility Community is a visual representation of a conceptual framework for orienting services for separated and divorced fathers. -
Exploring Fatherhood in Bangladesh (Fatherhood is an important element in the construction of Bangladeshi male identity) (pdf 238kb)
Both fatherhood (the social and symbolic status accorded to fathers) and fathering (the activities fathers engage in and carry out in the care of their children)have largely been formally conceptualized through a Western lens. Theories, research, and program models focused on fathers’ contributions to children’s well-being have drawn upon traditional Euro-western cultural values, family formations, and goals for children’s development. For several reasons, these perspectives are unlikely to be useful in understanding fatherhood and fathering in Bangladesh or other South Asian contexts. Article posted with the permission of the Association for Childhood Education International, http://acei.org/ -
Marpole Oakridge Family Place Dad and Me Program (external website)
This Saturday morning program, operated by Vancouver’s Marpole Oakridge Family Place, offers a full hot breakfast of bacon and eggs, toast and hash browns, tea, muffins and fruit, followed by an interactive circle time including singing, storytelling and fun activities. Dads and children aged infant to six years are invited. Join us for this joyful morning and meet other dads with children in the community. The program is free for members. For more information on this program, contact Carol Chu: Playroom Coordinator Email: playroomcoordinator@mofp.org Telephone: 604 263 1405 -
The Principles of Father Inclusive Practice (doc 67kb)
Father-Inclusive Practice Principles are modelled on family-sensitive principles already in use within family and health services and on proposals for sustainability within the child care sector. The nine principles and their implications for service providers were developed through the Father Inclusive Practice Forum held in Newcastle, Australia in 2005. -
Profiles of Fathers in Canada (Demographic Profile of Canada’s Fathers) (pdf 157kb)
This article, prepared as part of FIRA’s demographic profile of Canadian fatherhood, presents analyses of data from the 2001 Canadian Census, the 2001 General Social Survey on the Family, the 2005 General Social Survey on Time Use and the 2003 General Social Survey on Social Engagement. The article presents and explains demographic and other quantitative data on Canadian fathers in general, several sub-populations of fathers, fathers’ time-use and the social capital of fathers. The author also discusses design issues which limit the ability of existing surveys to capture data about Canadian fathers and suggests improvements. -
Understanding and Supporting Indigenous Fathers’ Journeys (pdf 989kb)
Research poster based on the work of FIRA’s Indigenous Fathers Cluster, presented at the 3rd biannual conference of the Living Knowledge Network, Belfast, August 2009. -
Community University Partnership Research (Steps towards a negotiated social justice) (pdf 676kb)
Research poster presented at the 3 biannual conference of the Living Knowledge, Belfast, August, 2009. -
Garde d’enfants, droit de visite et responsabilité (Ã la recherche d’une norme juste et équitable) (pdf 157kb)
French language version of the executive summary of Child Custody, Access and Parental Responsibility (The Search for A Just and Equitable Standard). -
Conference Report (pdf 131kb)
This document is a report on the conference Father Involvement 2008, hosted by FIRA in Toronto from October 22 - 24, 2008. The report includes synopses of the five keynote addresses along with a description of themes covered in breakout sessions (with examples) and conference statistics. -
Promoting Father Involvement Through National Policies: Assessing What Matters (Keynote Address) (pptx 164kb)
With reference to studies of father involvement in different countries over the past four decades, Coltrane asks what has changed in fathers’ participation in parenting and domestic work and raises questions about how social policies are related to behavioral and demographic shifts. Do most family-friendly or child-friendly policies encourage men to spend more time with children? Which policies and programs are associated with higher levels of father involvement? Which forms of father involvement should we be promoting? How do we know if promoting father involvement works? And finally, do father-friendly policies really promote more involvement, or are they the result of cultural shifts that have already occurred? Coltrane will summarize new collaborative efforts to answer some of these questions using Time Use data from Europe and North America, and cross-national social policy comparisons. -
Why Does Father Involvement Promote Child and Adolescent Development:Addressing an Under Theorized Issue (Keynote Address) (ppt 904kb)
Supporting the fatherhood practitioner community’s work to encourage father involvement, fatherhood scholars in recent years have made important theoretical advances. In addition, researchers have used increasingly sophisticated designs to document the benefits of great father involvement for children, in particular showing that father involvement has effects independent of mother involvement. However, missing in both recent theoretical advances and empirical research is progress on the most under-theorized issue concerning father involvement today: exactly why father involvement does or should promote development. This paper critically analyzes four theoretical perspectives, used explicitly or implicitly in current work, about the processes of paternal influence: attachment theory, essential father theory, Bronfenbrenner ecological theory with its concept of proximal process and social capital theory. The promise that attachment theory holds for the conceptualization of paternal influence is limited to the rather small attachment research community. Essential father theory is widely accepted by the lay public and even among professionals, but empirical support for fathers making an essential and unique contribution to development is at present quite weak. Bronfenbrenner’s concept of proximal process and the social capital framework provide the best available foundation for theory about exactly how fathering promotes, or does not promote, development. The paper concludes by developing an integrated, ecological-parental capital, theory of paternal influences on development. In developing this integrated theory, the paper addresses how practitioners can best provide strong support for greater father involvement without making essentialist assumptions about fathers’ unique contributions.
