May 1996, Vol. 2, No. 3

Reinventing Fatherhood. Interview with Kirk Harris
By Michelle Rieff, second year social administration student.

The importance of fathers to their families is receiving more attention by practitioners and policy-makers in the field of family support than ever before. The effort to bring fatherhood issues to the forefront of the nation's attention has been aided greatly by the active interest and involvement of Vice-President Al Gore. Gore recently spoke on the topic of fathers and families at the Family Resource Coalition's national conference held here in Chicago. The following interview is with Kirk Harris, PhD, Director of the Center on Fathers, Families and Public Policy (CFFPP) centered in Chicago. Harris was among a delegation of fatherhood experts and advocates who hosted Mr. Gore's visit to Chicago. Along with the Vice-President, Harris is a national leader advocating for a wide-scale social reconsideration of the meaning of fatherhood and the role of fathers in family life.

Michelle Rieff: You have suggested that fathering as a social and familial process is complex, and by no means monolithic in practice, interpretation or context. How do you think fatherhood is viewed in America?

Kirk Harris: I think that the notion of fatherhood in America is highly romanticized. We have a rhetoric which embraces a very narrowly conceived ideal of fatherhood one that is premised generally on the ability of the man to support his family. If a father cannot support his children financially, he may still be able to provide emotional and psychological support to his offspring.. These contributions need to be recognized, encouraged and rewarded, rather than discouraged as they have been.

MR: What is the first step to achieving such recognition?

KH: A discourse has to emerge that considers varied and conflicting notions of fatherhood, beyond the simple role of economic provider. The lack of this discourse is exactly the problem.

MR: What are some of the individual, societal, and institutional barriers that confront men in their role as involved parents?

KH: Men need to have a deeper understanding of themselves beyond the role of financial provider For lowincome men, which is the population of men that CFFPP is primarily concerned with, becoming a more involved parent is a particularly unique challenge. These fathers must continually contend with chronic unemployment and low-wages which hinder their ability to become financially independent. This constant struggle often crowds out other ways in which they believe they can be supportive. So, for them, the biggest hurdle is economic independence. For the social service providers, policymakers, and government officials, the challenge is to reorient and broaden their paradigm with regard to the role fathers play.

MR: Fatherhood has become a major item on the national agenda, gaining the attention of people across a wide array of community interests irrespective of political affiliation. Why has this happened?

KH: The main impetus for the new interest in fatherhood-programs is an urgent push to remove people from the welfare rolls: We are faced with a situation where the federal government wants to devolve out of its responsibility to support women and children. In order to do that, the government must find others to whom this responsibility can be transferred.

MR: Historically, efforts to involve non-custodial, low-income fathers with their children have taken the form of punitive and heavy-handed enforcement strategies to collect child support payments. How can we develop policies and programs that will address fathers' emotional and financial relationships with their children?

KH: I do not consider child support a social program. Rather, it is a collection effort by the state to recapture resources that have historically gone to support mothers and children due to a disconnection, both financially and emotionally, between the father and the family. The problem with our child support system is that it does not recognize different classes or types of individuals. There are individuals who can pay, but don't want to; and then there are those who are simply unable to pay because of their economic marginalization. By failing to create systems that recognize this distinction, we end up creating barriers between fathers and children.

MR: What are the implications of this failure?

KH: The distinction is important because it speaks to what methods, alternatives, and/or programmatic solutions one offers when addressing child support enforcement. The goal of child support does not have to be simply increased collection activities, or more punitive measures. Instead, it can be something that attempts to collect financial support from the father, while also incorporating policies that enable a father to engage and nurture his child in spite of his economic shortcomings. National policies should address the larger questions of unemployment, job availability, and livable wages-otherwise we will be doing little to enhance fathers' emotional and financial relationship with their children.

MR: More and more early childhood and family support programs are discovering the unique contribution fathers and men bring to the life of children. Can you describe some of these contributions?

KH: There is a lot of debate right now about the different contributions that fathers make. I don't know if I want to enter that debate, because it is riddled with gender stereotypes premised on the notion that men have an intrinsic contribution that only they can bring to their children. I don't necessarily subscribe to this school of thought. It is critical, however, that we value the process of coparenting because raising a child is a complex matter and each parent lends a special-although noncategorical- contribution. Furthermore, I believe that caring for a child is not only the responsibility of the parents, but of the immediate community as well. The co-parenting ideal should not be discouraged: Both care-takers need to be supported.

MR: Can you highlight some of the essential elements that are critical to father-directed programs?

KH: Incorporating job assistance, training and educational programs is essential for low-income fathers. Recent demonstration projects supported by Public-Private Ventures incorporate these aspects. Fair-Share, another demonstration project, is experimenting with different combinations of services to better enable men to provide child support payments. The Paternal Involvement demonstration project is providing direct service in such a way as to make men feel better about themselves, thereby increasing the likelihood that they will engage their children.

MR: What kind of engagement do these programs contemplate?

KH: It is important that programs directed at fathers create opportunities for increased interaction with children. This may consist of subsidizing social activities between a father and his child. Programs should also incorporate support groups and parenting classes that reinforce a broader notion of fatherhood. In addition, when designing programs, we have to be sensitive to the fact that different types of supports are going to be needed for lower-income men and middle-to-upper income men. Policies need to be created that address these different sectors of society.

Does the private sector have a role to play ?

The private sector has a major role to play. The challenge of balancing work and family makes the attempt to involve fathers in children's development even tougher. But the private sector can be encouraged to help by making the workplace more hospitable to fatherhood. Companies need to develop family-friendly programs such as flexible time, child day care, paternity leave, job sharing, and -when appropriate-opportunities to allow fathers to bring children to work. This will create a context in which families may more easily prioritize and place family needs high on their agenda.

What are the steps we need to take towards rewarding the role that fathers play? '

We as a country need to recognize the following: (1) There is more to fathering than income support; (2) social and economic differences create separate challenges for men; and (3) men are just as competent and capable as women when providing care for their children. Opportunities need to be created for father-child interactions and programs, and policies need to be designed which are more inclusive and father-friendly.

Michelle Rieff is a second-year social administration student.
Her placement is with the Child Welfare League of America.

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