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William Marsiglio

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marsiglio

About

Throughout my career much of my research and teaching has focused on the social psychology of men’s experiences related to sex, reproduction, fathering, and paid/volunteer work with children outside the home. I’m interested in how men socially construct their identities as persons capable of creating and caring for human life in various settings. Since 2000, my research has been based on qualitative in-depth interviews and some ethnography work.

Most recently, my writing addresses “big idea” issues. For example, my book Chasing We-ness: Cultivating Empathy and Leadership in a Polarized World (University of Toronto Press, 2023) is an interdisciplinary exploration of why, how, and with what effect we build we-ness into our lives. In this work, I explain how three different expressions of “we-ness” or group belonging (deep dyadic, ideational, and spontaneous) are essential to how we express our identities and organize our social lives in the following social domains: primary groups, civic and community groups, thought communities, leisure/sports, and work. I propose strategies to cultivate healthy forms of we-ness by developing what I label MEAL life skills (mindfulness, empathy, altruism, and leadership). I demonstrate how promoting personal growth, community engagement, and social justice perspectives provides the logic to creative supportive environments that will promote heathy forms of we-ness in diverse contexts.

I’m currently finishing an interdisciplinary book, People, Places, and Belonging (tentative title) which pivots on the assumption that place has social and political implications. My focus on place extends our understanding of the dynamic, pervasive, and consequential processes that nurture we-ness. I explore why, how, and with what effect our experience with aspects of place overlap with our efforts to establish we-ness in our lives. I focus on place processes associated with claims, attachments, rituals, and transitions. In addition, I show how applying MEAL life skills can enrich our expressions of “place consciousness” and “place attachment” in diverse settings while informing placemaking strategies to enhance personal, group, and community well-being. This approach is premised on the notion that our embodied minds and activities are situated in socially constructed places.

In terms of my qualitative research the following represents a brief summary. My most recent empirical study, Kids Who Tri (2019), explores the links between youth triathlon, models of youth sports, and childrearing/coaching philosophies. Based on interviews with parents, coaches, race directors, USA Triathlon staff, and young triathletes, the book challenges leaders in youth sports and fitness, education, and community development to join forces to make youth triathlon a mainstream sport in our schools and communities. Dads, Kids, and Fitness (2016) focuses on the intersection of health issues for fathers and their children and is grounded in interviews with dads and pediatric health care professionals as well as autoethnographic observations. My 2012 book, Nurturing Dads (with Kevin Roy) integrates data from seven different qualitative studies to explore the prospects for developing a wide range of social initiatives that encourage fathers to be more attentive and responsive to their children. In my 2008 book Men on a Mission, I focus on men’s experiences working with children in diverse areas (e.g., coaches, teachers, youth ministers, probation officers, Big Brothers, Boy Scout leaders, 4-H club leaders, youth intervention specialists). One facet of this project examines how youth work and fathering mutually influence one another. My research with stepfathers, Stepdads (2004) considers how they develop and manage their involvement with stepchildren and the “family” network (mother, biological father, own children). I am also interested in how physical and social spaces affect fathers’ identity work and involvement with their children. Another study with teenage and young adult men, Sex, Men, and Babies (2002, with Sally Hutchinson) focuses on how they describe their romantic relationships, sex lives, and procreative experiences. It provides the foundation for my Procreative Identity Framework—a model exploring how men become aware of their ability to procreate and its meaning for them over time.

See https://people.clas.ufl.edu/marsig/files/marsiglio-cv-january-2023.pdf for a complete CV listing of books, articles, chapters, and reports. See https://people.clas.ufl.edu/marsig/ for a listing and description of books including reviews.

CV (PDF)

Teaching

Undergraduate Courses

  • Empathy, Leadership, and Civic Engagement
  • Men and Masculinities
  • Sociology of Reproduction and Gender
  • Sociology of Human Sexuality
  • Sociology and the Individual
  • Principles of Sociology

Graduate Courses

  • Constructing Families
  • Sociology of Reproduction and Gender
  • Sociology of Human Sexuality

Research

Areas of Specialization

  • Gender (Men and Masculinities)
  • Sex and Reproduction
  • Families
  • Social Psychology

Selected Publications

Books

  • Marsiglio, William and Scanzoni, John H. (1995).  Families and Friendships: Applying the Sociological Imagination. New York: HarperCollins.
  • Marsiglio, William (1995, Ed.).  Fatherhood: Contemporary Theory, Research, and Social Policy. Edited. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Marsiglio, William (1998). Procreative Man. New York: New York University Press.
  • Marsiglio, William and Hutchinson, Sally (2002).  Sex, Men, and Babies: Stories of Awareness and Responsibility.  New York: New York University Press.
  • Marsiglio, William (2004).  Stepdads: Stories of Love, Hope, and Repair.  Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Chapter 5 “Overlooked Aspects of Stepfathering” reprinted in Andrew J. Cherlin (2005, ed.) Public and Private Families: A Reader (pp. 303-316).  New York: McGraw-Hill.
    • Chapter [2011] “Overlooked aspects of stepfathering.” Pp 556-571 in Shifting the Center: Understanding Contemporary Families.  Edited by Susan J. Ferguson.  New York: McGraw-Hill.  Also included in 3rd edition.
  • Marsiglio, William, Roy, Kevin, and Fox, Greer Litton (2005, Eds.).  Situated Fathering: A Focus on Physical and Social Spaces.  Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
  • Marsiglio, William (2008).  Men on a Mission: Valuing Youth Work in Our Communities.  Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Marsiglio, William and Roy, Kevin (2012).  Nurturing Dads: Social Initiatives for Contemporary Fatherhood.  New York: ASA Rose Monograph Series.  Russell Sage Foundation.
  • Marsiglio, William and Siler-Marsiglio, Kendra. (2015).  The Male Clock: A Futuristic Novel about a Fertility Crisis, Gender Politics, and Identity.  Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
  • Marsiglio, William. (2016).  Dads, Kids, and Fitness: A Father’s Guide to Family Health.  New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
  • Marsiglio, William. (2019). Kids Who Tri: Transforming Youth and Youth Sports Culture. Bookbaby.
  • Marsiglio, William. (2023). Chasing We-ness: Cultivating Empathy and Leadership in a Polarized World. Toronto. University of Toronto Press.

Journal Articles

    • Mott, Frank L. and Marsiglio, William (1985). Early childbearing and completion of high school. Family Planning Perspectives, 17(5), 234‑237.
      • Reprinted in The Alan Guttmacher Institute Reports on: Teenage Pregnancy.  New York: The Alan Guttmacher Institute (1990) and Teenage Pregnancy.  Hot Topics Series. Center for Evaluation, Development, and Research. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa (1987).
    • Marsiglio, William (1985). Husbands’ sex‑role preferences and contraceptive intentions:  The case of the male pill.  Sex Roles, 12 (5/6), 655‑663.
    • Marsiglio, William (1985). Confronting the teenage pregnancy issue:  Social marketing as an interdisciplinary approach.  Human Relations, 38(10), 983‑1000.
    • Marsiglio, William and Mott, Frank (1986). The impact of sex education on sexual activity, contraceptive use, and premarital pregnancy among American Teenagers.  Family Planning Perspectives, 18(4), 151-162.
      • Reprinted in The Alan Guttmacher Institute Reports on: Teenage Pregnancy.  New York: The Alan Guttmacher Institute (1990) and Teenage Pregnancy.  Hot Topics Series. Center for Evaluation, Development, and Research.  Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa (1987).
    • Marsiglio, William (1987). Adolescent fathers in the United States:  Their initial living arrangements, marital experience and educational outcomes.  Family Planning Perspectives, 19(6), 240‑251.
      • Reprinted in The Alan Guttmacher Institute Reports on: Teenage Pregnancy (1990) and Readings on Men (1996). New York: The Alan Guttmacher Institute.
    • Marsiglio, William and Menaghan, Elizabeth G. (1987). Couples and the male birth control pill:  A future alternative in contraceptive selection. Journal of Sex Research, 23(1), 34‑49.
    • Marsiglio, William and Mott, Frank L.  (1988). Does wanting to become pregnant with a first child affect subsequent maternal behaviors and infant birth weight?” Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50 (November), 1023-1036.
    • Marsiglio, William (1988). Commitment to social fatherhood:  Predicting adolescent males’ intentions to live with their child and partner.  Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50 (May), 427-441.
    • Marsiglio, William (1988). Adolescent male sexuality and heterosexual masculinity:  A conceptual model and review.  Journal of Adolescent Research, 3(3/4), 285-303.
    • Marsiglio, William (1989). Adolescent males’ pregnancy resolution preferences and family formation intentions:  Does family background make a difference for blacks and whites?  Journal of Adolescent Research, 4(2), 214-237.
    • Marsiglio, William and Menaghan, Elizabeth G. (1990). Pregnancy resolution and family formation:  Understanding gender differences in adolescent’s preferences and beliefs.  Journal of Family Issues, 11 (3), 313-333.
    • Scanzoni, John H. and Marsiglio, William (1991). Wider families and primary relationships. Marriage and Family Review, 17 (1/2), 117-133.
    • Marsiglio, William and Donnelly, Denise (1991). Sexual relations in later life:  A national study of married persons. Journal of Gerontology, 46, S338-344
    • Marsiglio, William (1991). Male procreative consciousness and responsibility: A conceptual analysis and research agenda. Journal of Family Issues, 12(3), 268-290.
    • Marsiglio, William (1991). Paternal engagement activities with minor children. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53, 973-986.
    • Marsiglio, William (1992). Stepfathers with minor children living at home: Parenting perceptions and relationship quality. Journal of Family Issues, 13(2), 195-214.
      • Reprint of this article appears in W. Marsiglio (Ed.), Fatherhood: ContemporaryTheory, Research, and Social Policy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
    • Scanzoni, John H. and Marsiglio, William.  (1993). New action theory and contemporary families. Journal of Family Issues, 14, 105-132.
    • Marsiglio, William and Constance Shehan (1993). Adolescent males’ abortion attitudes: Data from a national survey. Family Planning Perspectives, 25 (4), 162-169.
      • Reprinted in The Alan Guttmacher Institute (1996), Readings on Men. New York: The Alan Guttmacher Institute.
    • Marsiglio, William (1993). Attitudes toward homosexual activity and gays as friends: A national survey of heterosexual 15-19 year old males. The Journal of Sex Research, 30(1), 12-17.
    • Marsiglio, William (1993). Adolescent males’ orientation toward paternity and contraception.  Family Planning Perspectives, 25(1), 22-31.
      • Reprinted in The Alan Guttmacher Institute (1996), Readings on Men. New York: The Alan Guttmacher Institute.
    • Marsiglio, William (1993). Contemporary scholarship on fatherhood: Culture, identity, and conduct. Journal of Family Issues, 14, 484-509.
      • Revised version of this article reprinted in W. Marsiglio (Ed.), Fatherhood: Contemporary Theory, Research, and Social Policy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
    • Marsiglio, William (1995). Young nonresident biological fathers. Marriage and Family Review, 19 (3/4), 325-348.
    • Marsiglio, William and Cohan, Mark.  (2000).  Conceptualizing father involvement and paternal influence: Sociological and qualitative themes.  Marriage and Family Review, 29, 75-95.
    • Marsiglio, William, Day, Randal, and Lamb, Michael (2000).  Exploring fatherhood diversity: Implications for conceptualizing father involvement.  Marriage and Family Review, 29, 269-293.
    • Marsiglio, William, Hutchinson, Sally and Mark Cohan (2000).  Envisioning fatherhood: A social psychological perspective on young men without kids.  Family Relations, 49, 1-10.
    • Marsiglio, William, Amato, Paul, Day, Randal, and Lamb, Michael E. (2000).  Scholarship on fatherhood in the 1990s and beyond.   Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62. 1173-1191.
    • Marsiglio, William, Hutchinson, Sally and Mark Cohan (2001).  Young men’s procreative identity: Becoming aware, being aware, and being responsible.  Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 123-135.
    • Sally Hutchinson, Marsiglio, William, and Mark Cohan (2002).  Interviewing Young Men about Sex and Procreation: Methodological Issues in Grounded Theory Research.  Qualitative Health Research, 12, 42-60.
    • Armato, Michael & Marsiglio, William (2002).  Self structure, identity, and commitment: Promise Keepers’ Godly man project.  Symbolic Interaction. 25, 41-65.
    • Marsiglio, William (2004).  When stepfathers claim stepchildren: A conceptual analysis.  Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 22-39.
    • Berkowitz, D. and William Marsiglio (2007).  Gay men negotiating procreative, father, and family identities.  Journal of Marriage and Family, 69, 366-381.
    • Marsiglio, William and Hinojosa, Ramon (2007).  Managing the multifather family: Stepfathers as father allies.  Journal of Marriage and Family, 69, 845-862.
      • Reprint: Marsiglio, William and Ramon Hinojosa. 2009.  Gérer la famille pluripaternelle : le beau-père comme allié du père (Managing multiple fathers in the family: Stepfathers and biological fathers as allies).  Politiques sociales et familiales (Social and Family Policies), 96: 9-25.  
    • Marsiglio, William. (2009).  Men’s relations with kids: Exploring and promoting the mosaic of youth work and fathering.  The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 624, 118-138.
    • Marsiglio, William (2009).  healthy dads, healthy kids.  Contexts, 8, 22-27.
      • Reprint: Marsiglio, William. 2012.  Healthy dads, healthy kids. In Douglas Hartmann and Christopher Uggen (Eds.), the contexts reader (2nd edition).  New York: W. W. Norton.
    • Marsiglio, William, Lohan, Maria, and Culley, Lorraine. (2013).  Framing men’s experiences in the procreative realm.  Journal of Family Issues, 34, 1011-1036.
    • Jeffries, William, Tunalilar, Ozcan, Marsiglio, William, and Dana Berkowitz. (2019). “Fatherhood desires and being bothered by future childlessness among U.S. Gay, Bisexual, and Heterosexual men—United States, 2002-2015.” Journal of GLBT Family Studies,

DOI: 10.1080/1550428X.2019.1652876.

  • Sheibling, Casey and Marsiglio, William. #Health dads: (2021). “Fit fathering” discourse and digital health promotion in dad blogs.” Journal of Marriage and Family, 83 (4), 1227-1242.

Book Chapters

  • Marsiglio, William (1986). Teenage fatherhood:  High school completion and educational attainment.  In Arthur Elster and Michael Lamb (Eds.), Adolescent Fathers (pp. 67-87).  Hillsdale, New Jersey:  Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Marsiglio, William and Scanzoni, John H. (1990). Pregnant and parenting black adolescents:  Theoretical and policy perspectives.  In Arlene R. Stiffman and Larry Davis (Eds.), Advances in Adolescent Mental Health:  Ethnic Issues (pp. 220-244).  Sage
  • Scanzoni, John H. and Marsiglio, William (1992). Sexual behavior and marriage. In Edgar F. Borgatta and Maria L. Borgatta (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of Sociology (pp. 1754-1761). New York: Macmillan.
  • Marsiglio, William and Scanzoni, John H. (1992). Heterosexual behavior patterns. In Edgar F. Borgatta and Maria L. Borgatta (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of Sociology (pp. 822-831). New York: Macmillan.
  • Marsiglio, William and Greer, Richard A. (1994). A gender analysis of older men’s sexuality: Social, psychological, and biological dimensions.  In Edward H. Thompson (Ed.), Older men’s lives (pp. 122-140). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Marsiglio, William (1995). Fathers’ diverse life course patterns and roles: Theoryand social interventions. In William Marsiglio (Ed.), Fatherhood: ContemporaryTheory, Research, and Social Policy (pp. 78-101). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, in press.
  • Marsiglio, William (1995). Artificial reproduction and paternity testing: Implications for fathers.  In G. A. B. Frinking, M. van Dongen, & M. J. Jacobs (Eds.), Changing fatherhood: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 159-178). Amersterdam, The Netherlands: Thesis Publishers.
  • Marsiglio, William and Cohan, Mark (1997). Young fathers and child development. In Michael Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development (3rd edition) (pp. 227-244, 373-376). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
  • Marsiglio, William and Diekow, Douglas (1998). Men and abortion: The gender politics of pregnancy resolution. In Linda J. Beckman and S. Marie Harvey (Eds). The New Civil War: The Psychology, Culture, and Politics of Abortion (pp. 269-284). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
  • Marsiglio, William (1998). In search of a theory: Men’s fertility and parental investment in modern economies.  In A. Booth & N. Crouter (Eds.), Men in Families: When do They Get Involved? What Difference Does It Make (pp. 123-131). Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
  • Marsiglio, William and Day, Randal (primary authors), Evans, V. Jeffrey, Lamb, Michael E., Peters, Elizabeth, and Braver, Sanford (contributing authors). (1998). Social Fatherhood and Paternal Involvement: Conceptual, Data, and Policymaking Issues. Report of the Working Group on Conceptualizing Male Parenting, In Nurturing fatherhood: Improving data and research on male fertility, family formation and fatherhood (pp. 99-174). Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics.  Washington, DC.
  • Marsiglio, William, Scanzoni, John & Broad, Kendal Broad (2000). Sexual behavior patterns. In Edgar F. Borgatta and Maria L. Borgatta (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of Sociology (Revised Edition), pp. 2549-2564. New York: Macmillan.
  • Marsiglio, William (2004). Studying fathering trajectories: In-depth interviewing and sensitizing concepts. In Randal Day & Michael Lamb (Eds.), Conceptualizing and measuring father involvement (pp. 61-82), Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ.
  • Marsiglio, William (2004). Fatherhood.  M. Kimmel & A. Aronson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Studies on Men and Masculinities (pp. 275-279).  ABC-Clio Press.
  • Marsiglio, William (2004). Men and reproduction.  M. Kimmel & A. Aronson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Studies on Men and Masculinities (pp. 665-668)  ABC-Clio Press.
  • Marsiglio, William and Pleck, Joseph H. (2005). Fatherhood and Masculinities. In M. Kimmel, J. Hearn, & R. W. Connell (Eds.), The handbook of studies on men and masculinities.  (pp. 249-269).  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Marsiglio, William, Roy, Kevin, and Fox, Greer Litton (2005). Conceptualizing situated fatherhood: A spatially-sensitive and social approach. Chapter in Situated Fathering: A Focus on Physical and Social Spaces (pp. 3-26).  Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
  • Marsiglio, William (2005). Contextual scenarios for stepfathers’ identity construction, boundary work, and ‘fatherly’ involvement. Chapter Situated Fathering: A Focus on Physical and Social Spaces (pp. 73-97). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
  • Marsiglio, William and Hinojosa, Ramon (2006). Stepfathering:  Doing the Family Dance. Chapter in Jaber F. Gubrium and James A. Holestein (Eds.) Couples, Kids, and Family Life (pp. 178-196). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Marsiglio, William (2006). Young Men and Teen Pregnancy: A Review of Sex, Contraception, and Fertility-Related Issues. In Marsiglio, W., Ries, A., Sonenstein, F., Troccoli, F., and Whitehead, W. (2006).  It’s a Guy Thing: Boys, Young Men, and Teen Pregnancy Prevention (pp. 9-100).  Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
  • Hinojosa, Ramon, Sberna, Melanie, and Marsiglio, William (2006). Adoptive fatherhood: Gender, identity, and sociocultural considerations. Chapter in Katarina Wegar (Ed.), Adoptive Families in a Diverse Society (pp. 111-128). Rutgers University Press.
  • Marsiglio, William (2007). Qualitative insights for studying male fertility. Chapter in Sandra Hofferth and Lynne Casper (Eds). Handbook of Measurement Issues in Family Research (pp. 303-324).  Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Marsiglio, William and Hinojosa, Ramon. (2007). Social and psychological influences on male reproductive function.  In F. R. Kandeel, R. S. Swerdloff, and J. L.  Pryor (Eds.), Male reproductive dysfunction: Pathophysiology and treatment (pp. 129-140).  New York, NY:  Informa Healthcare USA, Inc.
  • Marsiglio, William and Hinojosa, Ramon. (2010). Stepfathers’ lives: Exploring social context and interpersonal complexity.  In M. E. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development (5th edition) (pp. 270-295).  Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
  • Marsiglio, William. (2011). Being a dad, studying fathers: Personal reflections. In Mary Ruth Marotte, Paige Martin Reynolds, and Ralph James Savarese (Eds.) Papa, PhD: Essays on Fatherhood by Men in the Academy (pp.135-140).  Rutgers University Press.
  • Marsiglio, William (2012). Fathering trajectories, gender, and physical/social place: A research agenda. In Ursula Müller, Mechtild Oechsle, and Sabine Hess (Eds.) Fatherhood in Late Modernity: Cultural images∙social practices∙structural frames (pp. 165-191).  Leverkusen, Germany: Budrich Publishers.
  • Marsiglio, William and Hendricks, Justin. (2012). American fathers, children, and their educational experience:  Qualitative reflections on promoting social capital. In Hsiu-Zu Ho and Diana B. Hiatt-Michael (Eds.), Promising Practices for Fathers’ Involvement in Children’s Education (pp. 1-16).  Charlotte, N.C.: Information Age Publishing.
  • Marsiglio, William and Roy, Kevin. (2013). Fathers’ nurturance of children over the life course. In Gary Peterson and Kevin Bush (Eds.) Handbook of Marriage and the Family (pp. 353-376).  New York: Springer.
  • Hendricks, Justin, Steinour, Heidi, Marsiglio, William, and Deepika Kulkarni (2016). Magazine depictions of fathers’ involvement in children’s health: A content analysis. Chapter in Laura Tropp and Janice Kelly (Eds.), Deconstruction Dads: Changing Images of Fathers in Popular Culture (143-163). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
  • Marsiglio, William, Pettigrew, J., and Hendricks, J. J. (2017). Targeting stepfathers: Engaging theory to expand and enhance social initiatives.  Chapter to appear in Carl Massza and Armon R. Perry (Eds.), Fatherhood in America: Social work perspectives in a changing society (pp. 137-155).  Charles C. Thomas.

Contact

William Marsiglio, Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Office: Turlington Hall, Room 3108A
Email: marsig@ufl.edu
PO Box 117330
Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611