Fathers' Participation in a Divorce Education Program

Abstract

Abstract It was the purpose of this study to explore, in depth, the effects of a divorce psychoeducational program in Ohio with nonresi-dential fathers in terms of gaining more information regarding: (a) how fathers constructed the knowledge from the program, (b) whether the program addressed special adjustment needs of non-residential fathers, and (c) whether the fathers had any specific suggestions on how to improve the program. Naturalistic research methods were used in this study because they were believed to be the most effective way to discover the subjective meanings and multiple realities of the fathers' experience. Results indicated that fathers found the program to be generally helpful, even fathers who had been initially opposed to the mandatory nature of the program. Areas that were deemed especially useful were information about how children are affected by divorce and the specific skill training in communication and co-parenting techniques provided in the divorce education program.