CHAPTER 1
Research and Theory

This chapter provides an overview of the research that was used to guide and support the creation of the Amazing Dads! curriculum. Each of the building blocks of this program will be briefly discussed: the influence that male socialization has on boys and men, the fundamentals of trauma‐informed care, the importance of father‐responsive services, and the impact that various systems have on fathers. The authors of this program strongly encourage facilitators to continue expanding their knowledge in these areas as that will greatly serve them in further improving their skills when working with fathers. This chapter is not intended to be exhaustive in its description of these areas, but rather to offer a window into these topics while encouraging continued exploration on the part of those facilitating the program.

Male Socialization

The exploration of cultural and societal influences on how boys and men are socialized throughout the life span is the keystone concept for the Amazing Dads! program. Coupled with the importance of understanding trauma and the impact of trauma on men and boys, the ability to view fatherhood from the perspective of male socialization is critical to effectively facilitating the curriculum. The reason this is critical is that the path to creating a safe, trusting, and open environment for fathers (or boys and men in general) requires an ability to address the concept of male socialization in a therapeutic, strengths‐based, and solution‐focused manner.

Perhaps the most important concepts to consider are those of gender and sex. Sex refers to whether one is considered biologically male, female, or intersex. Gender is a social construct in which specific messages are given to people regarding acceptable behaviors and characteristics. The role of gender varies from culture to culture and even within cultures and is impacted by many other factors: socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation to name only a few.

Understanding that gender is a social construct, it is important to recognize that masculinity and femininity come with culturally informed “rules.” Dan Griffin’s work on “The Man Rules,” as well as recognition of “The Woman Rules,” is the lens through which this socialization is explored throughout the Amazing Dads! curriculum. What is important to stress in Griffin’s work is why they are called “rules.” There is little to no choice involved in the creation of these gender rules or in the pressure to adhere to them. The reward for following the rules is: acceptance and even safety which creates an incredible unconscious connection to the rules. Boys are not introduced to the rules and offered choices about which ones they want to adhere to. The younger they are when the Rules first get imposed upon them, the less autonomy they likely feel to push back on detrimental ones. The Man Rules simply become part of their experience of the world versus something they feel that they have agency over.

The idea of gender‐based “rules” for men and women is a cross‐cultural phenomenon. Not only do we observe various sets of “Man Rules” across the globe in different cultures (admittedly with nuances specific to each culture), but there are themes that are ubiquitous. Some of the more detrimental themes we can observe cross‐culturally are related to masculine norms and trauma:

“From ancient allegories to current pop culture, one consistent theme in male heroism is that of sacrifice and resilience in the face of adversity. Across history, geographies, and cultures, pervasive narratives idealize men who experience traumatic events and can endure hardship, suffering, and physical and/or psychological violence. Historically, the male body and mind have often been considered expendable, and men have been expected to be strong, tough, and defenders of honor. As such, male violence and subsequent trauma have always been, and continue to be, woven into the fabric of masculinity and humanity.”

(Slegh et al. 2021)

Recognition of the connection between male socialization and trauma is hugely important and needs to be a significant driver of how services are developed, marketed, and implemented with male populations. It is this recognition that drove us to develop the Amazing Dads! program to address the often‐overlooked needs of dads.

Values‐Based Paradigm

There are different models for service delivery. The one that informs this curriculum is called Values‐Based Services. There are six foundational components to this particular iteration of the model developed by Dan Griffin. See the following for a brief description of each:

1. Gender‐responsive: Services and systems that are created to respond to an individual’s unique needs and issues based on their gender conditioning, particularly, but not solely, within the binary of masculine and feminine. Creating a space for all gender expressions and identities is an essential part of gender‐responsive services.
2. Trauma‐informed: Understanding that the phenomenon and experience of trauma is a universal experience and must be taken into consideration at all levels of a program.
3. Culturally humble: While the terms cultural competence and cultural responsivity are often used, when it comes to trauma‐informed systems the preferred term is cultural humility. The main difference is the focus on becoming knowledgeable about another’s culture and lived experience by listening to them, being a witness to their story, and helping to create a space for them to explore.
4. Recovery‐oriented: It is so easy to focus on the problem when dealing with addiction and mental health needs, so recovery‐oriented services mean that providers and the system focus on recovery from the very beginning and throughout the entire treatment process. This should be infused throughout the whole treatment process, from the language that is used in services (“substance use disorder” instead of “substance abuse” and “recovery maintenance” instead of “relapse prevention”) to the focus on recovery and strengths in the discharge process.
5. Spiritually enriched: The focus is on connection and community. While it may include religious beliefs and practices it does not have to. The primary focus is that one is able to connect to a reality bigger than themselves and find practices and beliefs that support their living in community, however, that looks for them.
6. Family centric: No individual is raised in a vacuum and their caregivers and the environment(s) in which they live have profound impacts on their experiences, their identities, and their lives as a whole. This also recognizes that people exist in family systems throughout the life span, so family‐centric services are part of a whole‐person approach to treatment.

This paradigm takes a holistic approach to working with dads by recognizing the differences, uniqueness, and complexities that each individual participant possesses. Using the approach outlined earlier is designed to improve the engagement and outcomes for participants, no matter what they are entering services to achieve.

A Trauma‐Informed Fatherhood Curriculum

Knowledge of the impact of trauma has grown exponentially in recent decades, expanding understanding of how pervasive it is while also being a very individualized experience. Along with this increase in knowledge and awareness has come the recognition that providers of all types (doctors, nurses, therapists, social workers, child welfare workers, teachers, principals, and probation/parole officers, among others) need to consider the work they do from a “trauma‐informed” lens.

Trauma‐informed care (TIC) refers to an approach in healthcare (and other arenas) that acknowledges the pervasiveness of trauma in the population, recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in all participants in the healthcare system (patients/clients, families, caregivers, staff/employees), uses knowledge of trauma and best practices to improve policies and organizational processes, and takes an active role in avoiding re‐traumatization of those interacting within the system (Center for Healthcare Strategies, 2022). A TIC approach assumes that anyone within the care system may have experienced trauma, so everyone needs to be approached therapeutically and helped to feel safe in all interactions and environments. In addition, TIC does not apply only to interactions with healthcare consumers and employees but to the healthcare environments themselves: things like the layout of waiting rooms and patient rooms, literature and media visible in the environment, and training and support provided to non‐clinical staff such as receptionists and security personnel.

The principles guiding Amazing Dads! are not just trauma‐informed principles, they are the principles of male trauma‐informed care, created by Griffin and Fallot and further expounded upon in the unpublished article by Fallot, Bebout, Griffin, and Dauer. While Fallot and Harris first identified five principles for TIC, and then SAMHSA identified six, the principles of male trauma‐informed care developed by Fallot and Griffin highlighted a need for...