In contrast, we expected that those who were having more problems to begin with would be functioning quite poorly as fathers, perhaps disengaged or presenting some sort of danger to their children. When analyzing the data in our various studies, we found that these predictions were pretty accurate for many, but not all, fathers. For the sake of simplicity, we could describe the two main groups of fathers as having generally positive or generally negative trajectories, meaning that their positive or negative outcomes as fathers (2 years after their children’s birth) were predictable, based on their respectively low or high levels of risk before they became fathers. Some of the fathers we include in this book were selected because they represent either of these two groups of young fathers. After identifying fathers who represent the expected trends in the adjustment of young fathers, we looked closely at two other groups of fathers that defied our predictions. These include fathers like Darnel, who ended up doing better than we expected, based on our assessment of their initial risk status. It also included fathers who showed the opposite pattern of unexpected negative outcomes as fathers. This process of looking carefully at the outliers in one’s data is somewhat unusual among researchers. We did this because it occurred to us that learning more about young men who look like they are heading for big problems but who end up doing quite well might reveal useful information about how to support positive paternal development, particularly among those who are at high risk. These “better than expected” fathers might teach us a lot about resiliency. And, of course, there are also those fathers who appear to be doing quite well when we meet them but who have serious adjustment problems across the transition to parenthood, getting into trouble with the law or using drugs and becoming disruptive to their child’s well-being. A careful look at these fathers, and understanding how they become derailed, might provide important clues about how to keep young fathers healthy and on a positive trajectory. In this book, we try to tell the stories of these different types of young fathers in a way that captures the depth, range, and diversity of their experiences. In large measure, these stories are the backbone of this book, and if there is one thing that has propelled us to write, it is the fact that so many young men and women opened themselves up to us with the understanding that we would use their experiences—their stories—to help other young families.