| dc.description.abstract | American social attitudes toward fatherhood appear to be changing as many older fathers claim new interests in the child-rearing decisions (Palm & Palkovitz, 1988). Fathers are asserting that they feel closer to their children and more a part of their children's lives than the generations before them (Daly, 1993; Marsigilio, 1993). Perhaps this transition is an indication that the role of the father is more than providing a paycheck; moreover a father's role also serves as an important resource for the social, emotional, and cognitive development of their children (Elster & Lamb, 1986). Although this positive transformation is taking place among older fathers, is this change taking place among the under twentyfive cohorts of young fathers who are married or partnered to adolescent mothers? Is society suggesting these young men's fatherhood roles and parent/child relationships are equally important and including them in this new engendering of fatherhood? If society's attitude toward young fathers is really changing, then it appears reasonable to assume that more social services would also be available specifically to this particular cohort. Yet, when considering young fathers in this state, neither the existing services nor the prevalent professional attitude among practitioners are known. Therefore, the aim of this present study is to discover the number and categories of available services for young fathers; what the prevalent attitude among professionals toward young dads is; and if the existing attitude among professionals toward young fathers predict the number of available services to them. | |
