Fathers' perceptions regarding parenting and discipline based on community norms and practices

FATHERS’ PERCEPTIONS REGARDING PARENTING AND DISCIPLINE BASED ONCOMMUNITY NORMS AND PRACTICESby ANNA YELICKMAY 2011Advisor: Dr. Shawna LeeMajor: Social WorkDegree: Master of Social WorkDetermining fathers’ perceptions of community norms on discipline is paramount tounderstanding how to develop social work interventions that target fathers’ parenting behaviors.Understanding why a father engages in one form of discipline over another in child rearing andunderstanding how fathers view their parenting role is important when discussingimplementation of parenting programs. This study was conducted using qualitative focus groupscomprised of men ranging from late adolescents to mid-adulthood. The majority of the men werelower economic status, African American fathers recruited from a human services agency inDetroit. One-hour long, semi-structured focus group discussions were content coded, resulting in narratives based on several themes. There were four major themes presented; community resources for men to learn how to parent, discipline techniques used in the community, effectiveversus ineffective discipline, and an overarching ideology of the group. Two other themes were discussed in less depth: types of discipline not frequently used by parents in the community andfathering programs that are available or could be available to help men learn about parenting. The main conclusion was that while corporal punishment is practiced, the majority of these men