ABSTRACT
The study of teen parenthood has become almost synonymous with the study of teen mothers, but relatively little research attention has been devoted to the study of teen fathers. Nevertheless, because it appears that becoming a teen father has negative developmental consequences for both the teen father and his children, it is an important area of inquiry. Furthermore, the information gathered on teen mothers is not necessarily applicable to adolescent fathers in that different factors may influence their parental behavior and experiences. The purpose of this chapter is to provide insight into and understanding of the experiences of teen fatherhood and to examine the barriers to effective teen father parenting. Because the voices of young male parents are not adequately represented in the discourse of social science literature and social policy, this chapter provides an account of their experiences and examines the context in which their experiences occur, from the lens of a clinical example.
