Strengthening the Role of Unmarried Fathers: Findings from the Co‐Parent Court Project

• Published date: 01 December 2015
• Author: Dylan L. Galos,Mary S. Marczak,Ebony Ruhland,Alisha M. Hardman,Emily H. Becher
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12134
• Date: 01 December 2015

Strengthening the Role of Unmarried Fathers:

Findings from the Co-Parent Court Project

MARY S. MARCZAK*

EMILY H. BECHER*

ALISHA M. HARDMAN

†

DYLAN L. GALOS

‡

EBONY RUHLAND

§

While the importance of fathers in unmarried coparent families is a strong area of social

and political interest, a dearth of community-based interventions exis ts for supporting the

role of fathers in at-risk families. The Co-Parent Court (CPC) was a 3-year demonstration

project evaluating the effectiveness of a collaborative intervention to support unmarried co-

parents establishing paternity and improving their coparenting relationships and paternal

involvement in their child’s life. A randomized-control experimental design was employed.

The paper will explore father involvement and coparent relationship outcomes.

Keywords: Co-Parent Court; Paternity Establishment; Unmarried Coparents; Fathers

Fam Proc 54:630–638, 2015

The parenting practices of fathers in families headed by unmarried coparents are a

growing area of interest, research, and intervention (Fagan, Cherson, Brown, &

Vecere, 2015; McHale, Salman, & Coovert, 2015; McHale, Waller, & Pearson, 2012; Waller,

2012). Research indicates that fathers who never married their child’s o ther parent are at

risk of growing disengaged in their parental role and showing less investment in their

child. This risk is heightened if the romantic relationship with their child’s mother termi-

nates and if the quality of their coparenting relationship with the child’s mother declines

(Tach, Mincy, & Edin, 2010; Waller, 2012). Decreased father investment is associated with

poorer outcomes for children (Carlson & Magnuson, 2011; Choi & Pyun, 2014).

There also exists a stigma regarding unmarried parents and their families. Unmarried

parents are typically seen through a deficit-based approach, and fathers in particular are

viewed through a lens of pathology. For example, Hines and Boyd-Franklin (2005)

asserted that African-American fathers are “constantly challenged with negative stereo-

types including the notion that they are absent or, at best, peripheral in their children’s

lives” (p. 91) and that they are “nonfamily-oriented or uncaring” (p. 90). An all too common

belief is that fathers are not involved in their children’s lives because they do not want to

be. An alternative perspective is that fathers are interested in being involved in their chil-

dren’s lives, but face various barriers and challenges that hinder their involvement.

Unfortunately, limited systems of intervention are in place to support positive coparenting

and father involvement between never married, nonresident fathers and their children

*University of Minnesota Extension, Twin Cities, MN.

†

School of Human Sciences, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS.

‡

Epidemiology & Community Health, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, MN.

§

School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, MN.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Mary Marczak, 495 Coffey Hall, 1420

Eckles Ave., St. Paul, MN 55108. E-mail: marcz001@umn.edu.

630

Family Process, Vol. 54, No. 4, 2015 ©2015 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12134