Fathers and Sons

Fathers and Sons enhances relationships between African American fathers and their 8-12 year old sons who are not living in the same home. By focusing on effective communication, cultural awareness, and skill building, the program helps participants strengthen their relationship through varied activities, including group discussions, role-switching sessions, and physical activities. The program includes 45 hours of contact between participating fathers and sons as well as homework assignments that are completed between sessions. Families are given memorybooks to document their experiences in the program, which concludes with a graduation ceremony to share accomplishments with the participants' extended families.

The project was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Prevention Research Center of Michigan.

The Fathers and Sons Project aims to strengthen the bonds between fathers and sons and promote positive health behaviors.

Effectiveness of the Fathers and Sons Project was measured by administering pre- and post-tests to 158 participating families and to 129 similar but non-participating father-son pairs. Results indicated that the intervention was promising for enhancing parental monitoring, communication about sex, intentions to communicate, race-related socialization practices, and parenting skills satisfaction among fathers. Sons who participated reported more monitoring by their fathers, improved communication about sex, and increased intentions to avoid violence, but did not demonstrate a reduction in aggressive behaviors due to the intervention.