Three Studies of Fathers' Adaptation to Pregnancy and Parenthood: (1) Moving up the ëMagic Momentí: Fathersí Experience of Prenatal Ultrasound; (2) The Longitudinal Development of Paternal-fetal Attachment; (3) Fathering after Military Deployment: Parenting Challenges and Goals of Fathers of Young Children.

Fathers’ positive and negative interactions impact the health and wellness of mothers and children beginning in the prenatal period and extending across the lifecourse, yet little is known regarding opportunities to engage fathers and encourage patterns of supportiveness. In three discrete, but connected, empirical papers, in my dissertation I use a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to investigate such opportunities. I use a grounded theory approach to analyze data collected in interviews with expectant fathers after attending a routine prenatal ultrasound, and I find that the period of pregnancy, and the moment of ultrasound in particular, may offer a potent teachable moment when men are feeling hopeful about the future, examining their behaviors and life choices, and may be receptive to outreach. I use data from cross-sectional surveys administered three times across pregnancy to men expecting their first child to examine trajectories of development of paternal-fetal attachment, and find that paternal-fetal attachment increases with time, and is consistently higher among fathers who considered the pregnancy both wanted and well-timed. I examine interview data collected from fourteen male service members, each returned from deployment to a combat zone and parent to at least one child under age seven, to identify specific parenting challenges and goals of fathers of young children post-deployment. Collectively, my three dissertation papers expand the knowledge base on men’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors during the transition to fatherhood, and advance understanding of how to support emerging competencies in early fatherhood and promote nurturing father-child relationships.PhDSocial Work and PsychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102465/1/tneugut_1.pd

Context, Challenges, And Tensions In Global Efforts To Engage Men In The Prevention Of Violence Against Women: An Ecological Analysis

As gender-based violence prevention programs around the world increasingly include efforts to engage men and boys as antiviolence allies, both the profound benefits and the inherent complexities of these efforts are emerging. Acknowledging and exploring tensions associated with engaging men is an important element of thoughtfully fostering menÕs antiviolence ally movements so as to both respectfully invite men into antiviolence work and create effective, gender-equitable prevention programming. To this end, this study presents descriptive findings regarding challenges associated with menÕs engagement programming from in-depth interviews with twenty-nine representatives of organizations that engage men and boys in preventing violence against women and girls in Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North and South America. Programs reported negotiating complex issues related to gender, the intersectional nature of menÕs identities, and establishing legitimacy and sustainability within communities while maintaining ideological focus and consistency. Additionally, programs reported that these tensions manifest across ecological layers of analysis, and impact both the participation of individual men and the programsÕ experiences in community and national contexts