FATHERHOOD in the NEIGHBOURHOOD
Paints complex picture of conjugal relationships from the mens perspective
Author's New Title Destroys Myths About Extra-Residential Fathers
Paints complex picture of conjugal relationships from the mens perspective
2010-07-29
LONGWOOD, FL-Within the pages of Lloyd J. Springer's Fatherhood in the Neighbourhood: 50 Boyfriends and Husbands Talk About Their Fathering ($16.99, paperback, 978-1-61579-309-9; $26.99, hardcover, 978-1-61579-310-5), the author investigates the African-Caribbean working class father's performance of his role toward his children. Organized around the extra-residential union, it paints a complex picture of the conjugal relationships from the men's perspective. The 50 fathers, although confronted by poor wages, claimed that they generally supported their children. By utilizing these case studies, readers will gain valuable sociological insights into the causes and effects of extra-residential fatherhood.
"My book is groundbreaking, as previous research in the Caribbean about men as fathers was done primarily by interviewing mothers and children," the author says. "It is rare, as stories about home, family, marriage, relationships, and parenting are seldom told from the man's perspective. This book helps to fill a void in literature about male parenting. It destroys myths about extra-residential fathers."
Springer, a counselor and sociologist, has been conducting research on this subject for more than a decade. He also has personal experience with this topic--his father had at least 12 children from nine different unions, was single, and never resided with him. It wasn't until years later that Springer was able to understand the situation from his perspective. "Fathers are not callous, cold men who impregnate their partners and flee, and they are not lacking in emotion, but they are negatively affected by the absence of children from their lives," he explains.