1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910811189903321

Autore

Edin Kathryn <1962->

Titolo

Doing the best I can [[electronic resource] ] : fatherhood in the inner city / / Kathryn Edin andTimothy J. Nelson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, : University of California Press, 2013

ISBN

0-520-95513-7

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (313 p.)

Altri autori (Persone)

NelsonTimothy Jon

Disciplina

362.82/940973

Soggetti

Fatherhood - United States

Poor children - United States

Single fathers - United States

Unmarried fathers - United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- Introduction -- ONE. One Thing Leads to Another -- TWO. Thank You, Jesus -- THREE. The Stupid Shit -- FOUR. Ward Cleaver -- FIVE. Sesame Street Mornings -- SIX. Fight or Flight -- SEVEN. Try, Try Again -- EIGHT. The New Package Deal -- APPENDIX -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- INDEX

Sommario/riassunto

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.