Much contemporary scholarship on fathers comes from a deficit model, focusing on men's inadequacies as parents. This volume goes beyond a deficit model of fatherhood to what the editors term a `generative fathering perspective'. This approach sees the work fathers do for their children in terms of caring for and contributing to the life of the next generation. Following a description of generative fathering, placing it in contrast to the role-inadequacy perspective of fatherhood, the contributors elaborate on generative fathering in terms of gender, ethnicity and historical perspe.