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Fatherhood in the Inner City
University of California Press
May 2013
On Sale: April 30, 2013
284 pages ISBN: 0520274067 EAN: 9780520274068 Kindle: B00BSSNR26 Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
Across the political spectrum, unwed fatherhood is denounced
as one of the leading social problems of today. Doing the
Best I Can is a strikingly rich, paradigm-shifting look
at fatherhood among inner-city men often dismissed as
"deadbeat dads." Kathryn Edin and Timothy J. Nelson examine
how couples in challenging straits come together and get
pregnant so quickly--without planning. The authors chronicle
the high hopes for forging lasting family bonds that
pregnancy inspires, and pinpoint the fatal flaws that often
lead to the relationship's demise. They offer keen insight
into a radical redefinition of family life where the
father-child bond is central and parental ties are peripheral. Drawing on years of fieldwork, Doing the Best I Can
shows how mammoth economic and cultural changes have
transformed the meaning of fatherhood among the urban poor.
Intimate interviews with more than 100 fathers make real the
significant obstacles faced by low-income men at every step
in the familial process: from the difficulties of romantic
relationships, to decision-making dilemmas at conception, to
the often celebratory moment of birth, and finally to the
hardships that accompany the early years of the child's
life, and beyond.
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