Understanding the Impact of History and Culture on African American Fatherhood

When developing programs involving fathers using a community-based participatory research approach within African American communities, understanding the experiences of fatherhood from historical and cultural perspectives is essential. Dating back to slavery, African American men have shared unique and complex relationships with their families. The common practice of selling African family members to other plantations resulted in entire families being separated, often isolating the African American father. This fragmented familial system persisted until the late 1800s when slavery was abolished. From the early 1900s to mid 1960s there was an increase in African American marriages, resulting in approximately 70% of African American children born to married couples. Today only 27% of African American children are born to two-parent families. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the role of history and culture in the development of the Fathers and Sons Program, which involved a CBPR approach in the design of this youth risky behavior preventive intervention for African American boys. The program focuses on influencing the attitudes and behaviors of nonresident African American fathers and their preadolescent sons. Examples of how historical and cultural experiences were incorporated into program development will be shared, along with data representing the meaning of contemporary fatherhood in the voices of the 158 families participating in the program.