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Qualitative inquiry into key stakeholders' perspectives
Acevedo-Polakovich, I., Kassab, V. A., Boress, K. S. J., Barnett, M. L., Grzybowski, M. M., Stout, S., Richards, A. E., Bell, K. M., Crider, E. A., Beck, K. L., Alfaro, M., Saxena, S. R., Bustos, T. E., & Ojeda, L. (2019). Fatherhood among gang-involved U.S. Latino youth: Qualitative inquiry into key stakeholders' perspectives. Journal of Latinx Psychology, 7(2), 137-153. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000111
Most crimes committed by adolescents in the United States are linked to gang activity, which is disproportionally present in Latina/o communities. Although most gang-involved teenage fathers wish that their children would not join gangs, their parenting tends to foster gang involvement in their children. An improved understanding of fatherhood among gang-involved U.S. Latino youth can inform the development of parenting- and fatherhood-focused interventions. To foster such understanding, we conducted interviews and focus groups with purposive samples of young gang-involved Latino fathers. parents of gang-involved Latino youth. and individuals who provide services or supports to gang-involved youth. Guided by Marshall and Rossman's (1995) broad qualitative approach, we analyzed transcripts of these interviews and discussions, extracting 24 themes, which we organized into 7 categories and three higher order content groupings. We discuss the manner in which these findings describe the experience of fatherhood among gang-involved Latino youth, and point to influences on their parenting- and fatherhood-related attitudes and behavior. We discuss. also, the implications of our findings for the development of parenting- and fatherhood-focused interventions for gang-involved teenage Latino fathers.