Contemporary Fatherhood Research Articles

Family Change and New Balance of Family Roles: The Case of Siberia

The paper examines results of the study of the phenomenon of contemporary fatherhood from the viewpoint of the transformation of men's family roles. The modernization of marriage and family in Russia has led to an increasing dominance of individual values: broader freedom of choice for the woman and the man both in the family and in social fields, the equality of spouses or partners, as well as higher opportunities for self-realization. The Russian husband–wife ‘equality’ in exercising the role of ‘breadwinner’ seems to further diminish the man's role in the family and leads to a weakening of the function of social fatherhood; in consequence, fathers take less responsibility for the rearing and socialization of their offspring.

Fathering through Sport

At a time when ‘fathers’, ‘fatherhood’ and ‘fathering’ are highly contested concepts in westernised societies, leisure is significant as a primary site for men to respond to the increased expectation that fathers will be actively involved with their children. Sport, with its lengthy tradition of paternal participation with children, is a particularly appropriate leisure form for deconstructing how the emergence of ideologies of ‘new’ fatherhood may be played out in leisure settings. On the one hand, sport offers a relatively familiar, secure and comfortable site in which men can use an established competence to engage with their children; on the other, participating in their children's sport may allow fathers to fulfil current expectations of involved fathering. Drawing on data from a qualitative study with fathers (n=8) of boys who were members of a youth football team, the paper explores the role that leisure plays as a site for fathering. It examines the context within which fathers seek to spend time with their children, the nature of their involvement in their children's sport, and the function that leisure plays within their performance of fatherhood. The study finds that fathers have a strong consciousness of ideologies of involved fathering and that these are strong influences on their involvement in their children's leisure. While embracing these ideologies, fathers nonetheless experience difficulty and tension in reconciling them with the continuing demands of ‘traditional’ fathering. The study concludes that these tensions raise a number of further questions for leisure studies scholars to address, and that by doing so they may contribute to the broader understanding of contemporary fatherhood.

An inner‐city school mentor: a narrative inquiry of the life experiences of ‘Daddy’

A two‐year ethnographic observation of an inner‐city high school in Los Angeles, USA, indicated that the principal, who was extremely dedicated to at‐risk students and possessed a unique style of mentoring, played a major role in students academic achievement. We — the principal and the researcher who observed the school – inquired about the principal’s life experiences through interviews of the principal, his family members, school staff and students. We realized that the principal’s mentoring style coincided with the notion of a contemporary father model — a deeply involved and nurturing parent who establishes reciprocal caring relationships with his children. We also discovered that the principal gained knowledge about mentoring from his own mentors, and his commitment to at‐risk inner‐city students resulted from his personal experience as an at‐risk immigrant student.

The 'good father': reading men's accounts of paternal involvement during the transition to first-time fatherhood.

The study investigates men's responses to contemporary sociocultural transformations in masculinity and fatherhood, and revised expectations of them as fathers. Four cultural and academic perspectives on 'new fatherhood' are described: a progressive psychosocial transformation agenda, attempts to reinstate traditional family values, a mix of optimism and resistance to change in men and fathers' relationship to the gender order, and criticism of new fatherhood discourse for reproducing hegemonic masculinity. A qualitative analysis is conducted of interviews conducted with a heterogeneous sample of 30 men aged 18-35 years in Norfolk. Interviewees overwhelmingly welcomed the opportunities offered to them by the new fatherhood model and supported a perceived cultural shift towards men and fathers being involved in, rather than detached from, family life. But three areas of tension and difficulty in living the ideal were also reported: providing cash and care; valuing selflessness and autonomy; and negotiating fairness, equity and decision making (for fathers who rather than helping out wanted full involvement in child care). We conclude that neither the 'hegemonic masculinity' nor the 'men as part of the family' perspectives exhaust the options for reading the gratifications and tensions advanced in men's accounts of living contemporary fatherhood. Arguments for greater balance in appreciating the problems and advantages of new fatherhood, or that men need to undergo greater change, also fail to offer points of closure.

'It's the first scientific evidence': men's experience of pregnancy confirmation.

In contrast to women's experiences of motherhood, there has been comparatively little research investigating men's experience of the transition to fatherhood and how changing cultural perspectives contribute to the contemporary experience of fathering. This paper draws on the findings of a larger ethnographic study of men's transition to fatherhood in the United Kingdom (UK) and discusses men's experiences of pregnancy confirmation. A longitudinal ethnographic approach was chosen to investigate men's 'real life' accounts of their transition to fatherhood. A mixture of 'novice' and experienced fathers (n = 18) were recruited from antenatal classes in the north of the UK during 1998. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on three occasions, twice during their partner's pregnancy and once afterwards. Framed by the context of the contemporary construction of involved fatherhood, the men frequently spoke of their desire to be 'involved' with their partner's pregnancy and yet reported difficulty in engaging with its reality. They nevertheless participated in a range of activities - body-mediated-moments - which brought them closer to their partner's pregnant body and therefore their unborn baby. These activities centred on pregnancy confirmation, announcement, foetal movements, the ultrasound scan, and culminated in their presence during labour and delivery. This paper discusses their involvement in the process of pregnancy confirmation. The men's experiences of early pregnancy were marked forcefully by their involvement in the confirmation process. This activity gave men entry into a physical dimension, helping them forge an involvement in the pregnancy and shape their early transition to fatherhood. Implications for practice. The study has provided insight into expectant men's experiences of pregnancy and contributed to the understanding of the changing nature of contemporary fatherhood in the UK. Recognition of men's changing roles in pregnancy, and greater insight into their experiences should be of relevance to all those supporting the transition to parenthood, including midwives, obstetricians, ultrasonographers and childbirth educators. Such increased awareness should inform the antenatal support given to men and reinforce the importance of relevant antenatal preparation that effectively meets the needs of not only expectant women, but also expectant men.

Contemporary fathers reconstructing masculinity: Clinical implications of gender role strain.

How can research data about gender role strain improve clinical work with men? The authors present qualitative data from 3 groups of fathers in the Yeshiva University Fatherhood Project: Haitian American, Promise Keeper, and gay fathers. The data illustrate the specific types of gender role strain associated with contemporary fathering and show how men are spontaneously reconstructing fathering and masculinity in general. The authors use clinical examples to show how psychologists can make use of this research knowledge in the diagnosis and treatment of men.

Contemporary fathers reconstructing masculinity: Clinical implications of gender role strain.

Contemporary fathers reconstructing masculinity: Clinical implications of gender role strain.

Why the “Good Provider” Role Still Matters

Providing as a form of paternal involvement is not readily acknowledged in contemporary fatherhood literature. Providing is often overlooked because it is taken for granted, is invisible to the family, holds negative connotations, and is inadequately conceptualized. This article expands paternal involvement to include economic provision. Providing as a form of paternal involvement is considered as it affects father, child, and family well-being. In conclusion, practice and policy implications related to an expanded view of economic provision and paternal involvement are shared.

The Diversity of Fatherhood

The articles in this volume seek to examine the many faces of fatherhood. As we edited this very informative collection, the message conveyed very clearly is that fatherhood is no simple phenomenon, but a complex tapestry of many things. Contemporary fatherhood is both diverse in its manifestations and subject to contradictory qualities, forces, and trends. Acquiring an accurate view of contemporary fatherhood is not possible without images of constant change, lingering traditionality, and, above all, a complex set of roles that vary from having very clear expectations to being highly ambiguous. This collection of original articles conveys the reality that fatherhood is not a static phenomenon, but more like a moving target, only some of which has constant meaning. Like so many things in social life, we also need to accommodate constant changes in what each generation expects of paternity

Paradoxes et fragilités de la paternité. Les pères dans l’union libre

Paradoxes and fragility in bathenhood : unmarried fathers This article examines the psychological issues linked to the legal status of the fathers, in free love, who have no «joint parental authority». The exercise of paternal function is no longer supported by the law. In the event of a separation, fathers are symbolically and actually denied the custody of their children and mothers often are under the illusion of an «omnipotence» over the child. This legal status reflects a paradox of contemporary fatherhood. Fathers request to fulfil their function which is depreciated by society.

Involving Students in Participatory Research on Fatherhood: A Case Study

The pedagogical method reported here has three purposes: (a) to engage the students in an interaction with the literature so that they can relate the issues to their own communities, (b) to include in the class discussion a consideration of the research methods reported in the literature, and (c) to take some of the fear and mystery out of the idea of research by involving a group in a shared research experience. Findings from a class project using questionnaire data (n = 75) about attitudes and reported behaviors of rural fathers from five life stages are reported. The findings confirm the existence of new attitudes toward fatherhood but find little change in fathering behavior. This article intends to share with family life educators a pedagogical approach in which students developed a heightened interest in the research literature forming the context of the reading for their course in fatherhood. Students developed skills in critical thinking and extended into their own communities an inquiry concerning issues raised in their reading of the course text and research articles. The approach of involving students as part of a research team, with the instructor as team leader, could be used in many family science courses. The participatory method reported here counteracted a frequent tendency of passive reading and attitudes of remoteness toward research materials. The class described in this report was an upper class/graduate level summer school course, Current Issues in Contemporary Fatherhood, with 15 members, most of whom were high school teachers and human service professionals in rural communities. The following paragraph (Kennedy, in press) in the course syllabus set the stage for the project:

Fathers' expectations and aspirations for their children

Do contemporary fathers have the same kinds of goals, beliefs, aspirations, and expectations about their children that fathers had 30 years ago? To answer this question, we interviewed 102 White fathers of 133 daughters and 126 sons about the topics probed by Aberle and Naegele (1952). We also asked about how the fathers expressed approval and disapproval of their children's behaviors, about their techniques for encouraging their children to develop the traits the fathers considered desirable, and about the sources of sex education for children. In general, our contemporary fathers mimicked some of the expectations of the earlier group and differed in others. Like the earlier group, some expectations were gender stereotypic. These expectations presumably function to restrict or limit the socialization of their children. More striking were the differences in the two sets of responses. In contrast to the statements from Aberle and Naegele's fathers, our fathers expressed many similar expectations for their daughters and sons. The educational and occupational levels of the fathers and the family composition qualified only a few of the above results.

Modified Contemporary Comparison as a Predictor for Future Daughters

Modified Contemporary Comparisons of sires from United States Department of Agriculture files were searched to locate bulls summarized in October, 1974, with substantial additional information in a subsequent sire summary. The summary of October, 1974, and the latest subsequent summary through January, 1976, on 702 Holstein bulls were used to develop a measure of daughter performance from information added between summaries on each sire. Predicted Differences of milk, fat, and 72 other variables from the October, 1974, summary were independent variables for prediction of performance of additional daughters for milk and fat. The best predictive equation for performance of additional daughters for milk included Predicted Difference for milk, fraction culled, and Repeatability times contemporary fathers’ Modified Contemporary Deviation for milk, Predicted Difference for milk alone accounted for 94.3% as much of the predictable variation as did the entire predictive equation. Analysis of fat production of additional daughters provided similar evidence for the predictive value of Predicted Difference for fat. Analysis of sire summaries of first lactation, including data through May, 1976, verified the results. Predicted Difference for milk and fat from multi-herd proofs appear to be sufficiently accurate predictors of performance of future daughters to serve as sole criterion of selection for production in breeding programs.