ABSTRACT
Despite advances in our understanding of fatherhood, most social and behavioral science research is based on data from White, middle-class, European-American families. In this chapter, we argue for including Latino families in fatherhood studies and highlight some special issues in the assessment of Latino men’s family involvement that have emerged from our recent research projects. Latino families face unique challenges and exhibit unique strengths, yet few social and behavioral scientists have addressed the assessment issues that are of particular importance to studies of this group. Unless researchers can gain access to Latino communities, build trust with key informants, and establish rapport with all family members, the validity of findings about Latino families will be limited. Until sampling and data collection techniques recognize the unique features of Latino subgroups, theoretical models and empirical findings will remain biased toward the experiences of the non-Latino White population. Latinos now constitute the largest ethnic minority group in the United States. We therefore encourage researchers to include Latino families in their studies and to become sensitive to the unique assessment issues that their inclusion necessitates.
