An examination of teen fathers' involvement with their partners and children and the influencing factors

Spurrell, Sharon Burnett (1995) An examination of teen fathers' involvement with their partners and children and the influencing factors. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

In order to gain an understanding of teen fathers' perceptions of the fathering experience, six teen fathers (age 16-20 years) from Eastern Newfoundland, Canada, completed questionnaires and participated in three one-hour interview sessions. A combination of open and close-ended questions focused on the involvement of father and child, and the factors influencing this involvement. -- Each participant reported feelings and demonstrations of love toward, pleasure with spending time with, and being actively involved with his child. Although the quantity of father-child interaction time varied from father to father, fathers were not satisfied and expressed a desire to spend more time with their children. -- Throughout the interviews six main themes and several subthemes emerged. The teen fathers most involved with their children reported positive relationships with the teen mothers and supportive parents. All four sets of grandparents were cooperative in their sharing of child care duties and expenses. These teen fathers also had a strong support system of friends and relatives. Less involved teen fathers reported strained relationships with the teen mothers and restricted access to their children. These teen fathers' relationships with the maternal grandparents were described as either nonexistent or hostile. -- Five of the six participants described the lack of recognition as a parent, and the lack of involvement in the decisions concerning their children, as being the most difficult aspect of being a teenage father. The adolescent fathers further identified several factors they considered obstacles to their involvement with their children: strained relationship with the teen mother; overbearing maternal grandparents; lack of recognition of parental rights by social agencies; and, inadequate finances. If we expect teen fathers to become more involved with their children these expressed difficulties and obstacles need to be addressed.

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