Browsing by Author "Sullivan, William P."

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    Cross-border fathering: The lived experience of Mexican immigrant fathers
    (2009-01-16T17:14:33Z) Navarro, Daniel E.; Sullivan, William P.; Kim, Hea-Won; Queiro-Tajalli, Irene; Horton-Deutsch, Sara
    This phenomenological study explores the lived experience of Mexican immigrant fathers who migrate to and settle in the United States initially alone and eventually bring the rest of their families from Mexico to join them permanently. This project explores fathers’ understanding of their fathering efforts along the journey of migration; from departure from Mexico to family resettlement in the U.S. There is a conspicuous paucity of research focusing on the fathering experience among these men. In addition, negative stereotypes about the Mexican men in general abound. Thus, this study clarifies and contributes to the existing knowledge about these men. Fifteen Mexican immigrant fathers participated in the study through extensive qualitative interviews and field observation. Interviews were carried out in Spanish, audio taped, and simultaneously translated and transcribed into English. Data were treated through the process of phenomenological reduction. Nine core themes emerged: (1) fathers immigrate to rescue their families from poverty and fulfill what they perceive to be their roles as breadwinners; (2) they could not embark upon this journey without the support of family and kin in both countries; (3) they sacrifice themselves and their families as well; (4) despite the geographical distance, their fathering efforts involve much more than providing for their children; (5) they vow to ensure that neither they nor their families would ever experience certain risks again; (6) once in the U.S., they experience a type of poverty they did not anticipate; (7) due to immigration policy, the border is never left behind; (8) the role of the wife is significant throughout the father’s experience; and (9) despite the challenges experienced, fathers recognize and appreciate the gains from their decisions to engage in cross-border fathering. The essence of the phenomenon involves the recognition that although the Mexico - U.S. border is left behind after crossing the border, the father never stops crossing familial, social, and psychological borders. As a triangulation strategy, five professionals with significant experience working with Mexican immigrant families were also interviewed. Implications for practice, education, research, and policy are identified and discussed. Questions about the future of this population group are raised.
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    Predictors of Improvement for Children Served in Developing Systems of Care
    (2006-08-01) Walton, Betty A.; Sullivan, William P.; Barton, William H., 1949-; Powers, Gerald T., 1938-; Holmes, Ann M.
    The research base regarding the effectiveness of systems of care for children with serious emotional disturbances is limited. The incremental development of systems of care in Indiana provides an opportunity to compare the outcomes of children served in these child and family wraparound teams with the outcomes of a matched sample of children receiving usual public mental health services. Functional assessment data from a state database was examined using logistic regression models. The level of development of wraparound services was used as a fidelity measure.