New Data on Fathers:
An Examination of Recent Trends in Fatherhood
and Father Involvement
September 21-22 , 2006
Statler Hotel, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Overview

Policy makers and academics have expressed concern that many men are loosely attached to their children and their children's mothers.  Over the past few decades, this concern was linked to high levels of divorce and non-marital childbearing, increases in the share of children being raised in female headed families, and the failure of some biological fathers to provide economic support to their children. At the same time, research suggested that other fathers were becoming more involved with their children, leading scholars to argue that fatherhood in the U.S. was characterized both by men's increased engagement and disengagement. Since these trends were first observed, researchers have been able to draw on new sources of data and from diverse methodological approaches to examine fathers’ participation in different types of families and socioeconomic situations. This conference brings together current research that examines fatherhood in its many forms and its impacts for men, children, and families from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.  The first session explores the transition to fatherhood, examining the determinants and relationship contexts of men as they become fathers.  Sessions two and three will include presentations on what fathers do and provide for their children and families, and the impacts of those behaviors on their children's development.  Session four examines the impact of fatherhood on the men themselves from a cultural, economic, and biological perspective.  Sessions five and six deal with two important policy questions:  what happens when fathers are incarcerated and what programs are effective for incarcerated fathers and their families, and second, what types of programs are effective in facilitating fathering among non-residential fathers?  The conference concludes with a sixth session consisting of key fatherhood scholars discussing the future of fathers and the family.

Agenda and Abstracts

Agenda in pdf format
Abstracts in pdf format

Papers

Papers on password protected site (no longer available)

Accommodations and Travel

Speakers and Discussants are staying at the Statler Hotel, 130 Statler Drive, Ithaca, New York.

The Conference is being held at the Statler Hotel, Day 1 (9/21) will be held in the Yale/Princeton Room and Day 2 (9/22) in the Carrier Ballroom.

Hotel Directions (To and from Ithaca Airport and Syracuse Airport)

Directions to Institute for the Social Sciences

Visitor Parking Information

Maps (Including Cornell Campus Map, Parking Map and Ithaca Map

For More Information

Contact socialsciences@cornell.edu

    Contact

socialsciences@cornell.edu

     607-255-3304

     148 Myron Taylor Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853