Developing Father Inclusivity Concerns and Practical Solutions Claire

Developing Father Inclusivity: Concerns and Practical Solutions Claire Fraser and Abigail Locke Consult Research & University of Huddersfield

Workshop Outline • Setting the context & literature review • Group Exercise – assessment of father inclusivity in own organisation • Reflections from research within antenatal provision • Group Exercise – implementing father inclusivity • Sharing views and evaluating success 2

Fathers in the literature • Part-time, bumbling assistant, baby entertainers (Sunderland, 2004, 2006) • Father as provider discourse deeply entrenched (Dienhart, 1998) • Craig (2006) childcare – mother main carer • Doucet (2006): do men mother? 3

Group Exercise • Current level of father inclusivity in your organisation • Experiences of trying to develop father inclusivity • Barriers to achieving father inclusivity • Problems encountered – within and across agencies 4

Fathers in antenatal classes Locke & Budds (forthcoming) 3 main themes arose: • 1. Father as mother’s carer • 2. Father as secondary parent • 3. ‘Blokes’ will do it differently 5

Father as mother’s carer • Fathers role as carer to mother – spotting ‘baby blues’ - “depressed dear” • Implies father needs to be instructed to seek assistance 6

Fathers as secondary parent • Fathers role constructed as fulfilling task that mother doesn’t want to fulfil: – ‘I definitely think that’s a dad’s job, dealing with the nails’ (lines 16 -17) • Father’s role in parenting and role is the mother’s decision and is mostly assigned when it is convenient for her • Father is constructed as a consolatory or ‘second-class’ parent 7

‘Blokes will do it differently’ • Idea of shared parenting - ‘guys are just as good’ • Leaving baby with father deemed as problematic – Mother gets to decide when • ‘right way’; ‘best way’; ‘blokes will do it differently’ (class leader constructions) 8

Changing role of fathers • ‘Fatherhood’ as an institution is changing • Lupton and Barclay (1997) mother’s role easier to define (cf. Doucet (2006) Do men mother? ) • Societal/cultural constraints on fatherhood • Wall & Arnold (2007): the contemporary culture of fatherhood is not one of shared parenting and it can not be so until social expectations regarding parenting roles change… • Much talk of the ‘new father’, but we still have a long way to go 9

Group Exercise • • Implementing father inclusivity Overcoming the barriers Developing practical solutions Measuring success in achieving father inclusivity 10

Discussion topics • • Single father Stay-at-home-father Teenage father Professional father

Summing Up • Group experiences – sharing ideas • How are we doing? Ideas for evaluating success in achieving father inclusivity • Any questions… Claire Fraser, Consult Research claire@consultresearch. co. uk www. consultresearch. co. uk Abigail Locke, University of Huddersfield a. locke@hud. ac. uk http: //www 2. hud. ac. uk/hhs/staff/shumal 2. php 12