William Marsiglio

Professor (UF Research Foundation Professor:2005-08), Sociology
Ph.D. Sociology, The Ohio State University, 1987

Areas of Interest: Gender (Men and Masculinities), Sex and Reproduction, Families, Social Psychology

Office: 3108A Turlington
Mailing Address: PO Box 117330, Gainesville, FL 32611-7330
Voice: (352) 392-0265 ext. 233
FAX: (352) 392-6568
E-mail: marsig@soc.ufl.edu
Individual Web Page: http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/marsig/

Most of my research and teaching focuses on the social psychology of men’s
sexuality/reproduction, fathering, and paid/volunteer work with children outside the home. In general, I am interested in how men socially construct their identities as persons capable of creating and caring for human life in various settings. My books include: Men on a Mission: Valuing Youth Work in Our Communities (in press); Situated Fathering: A Focus on Physical and Social Spaces (Ed. with Kevin Roy and Greer Litton Fox, 2005); Stepdads: Stories of Love, Hope, and Repair (2004); Sex, Men, and Babies: Stories of Awareness and Responsibility, (with Sally Hutchinson, 2002); Procreative Man (1998), and Fatherhood: Contemporary Theory, Research, and Social Policy (Ed. 1995). Recently, most of my research has been based on qualitative in-depth interviews. One empirical study with teenage and young adult men focused on how they described their romantic relationships, sex lives, and procreative experiences. It provided 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. My research with stepfathers considers how they develop and manage their involvement with stepchildren and the “family” network (mother, biological father, own children). This research generated concepts such as paternal claiming and father allies. Most recently, I have studied men's motives for doing youth work (e.g., coaches, teachers, youth ministers, probation officers, Big Brothers), effective interpersonal strategies, the perception and expression of mentoring, the mutual influences of youth work and fathering on each other, youth workers’ personal development, and the potential influence of social policy and programmatic initiatives. My work emphasizes how physical and social spaces/places affect fathers’ and youth workers’ identity work and involvement with children. Currently, I am exploring issues related to fathers, kids, and health.