Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-nptnm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-10-05T09:24:25.191Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fathers' involvement in child rearing: Chasing an ideal or challenging barriers?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2016

Annette Holland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Identifying and describing factors which influence men's participation in child rearing has been the focus of major studies on fatherhood over the past two decades. Traditional divisions of labour within the domestic sphere are being redefined and challenged as greater equity in parental role tasks has become a desirable characteristic of contemporary family life. Recent research has shown that many men, far from being reluctant participants in parenting tasks, frequently experience discouragement in their attempts at greater involvement in the raising of their children. This paper reports on studies which describe institutional, interpersonal and intrapersonal barriers which men may experience in their attempts to create a more nurturant style of fatherhood, including fathers' reactions to these barriers.

Type
Research Article
Information
Children Australia , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , 1994 , pp. 9 - 13
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Backett, K. (1987) The negotiation of fatherhood. In Lewis, C. & O'Brien, M. (eds.) Reassessing fatherhood: New observations on fathers and the modern family. pp74–90. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Barnett, R.C. & Baruch, G.K. (1988) Correlates of fathers' participation in family work. In Bronstein, P. & Cowan, C.P. (eds.) Fatherhood today: Men's changing role in the family. pp66–78. New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Bowen, G.L. & Orthner, D.K. (1991) Effects of organisational culture on fatherhood. In Bozett, F.W & Hanson, S.M. (eds.) Fatherhood and families in cultural context, pp 187–217, New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Cowan, C.P. & Cowan, P.A. (1987) Men's involvement in parenthood: Identifying the antecedents and understanding the barriers. In Berman, P.W. & Pederson, F.A. (eds.), Men's transitions to parenthood: Longitudinal studies of early family experience, pp145–174, New Jersey: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates Google Scholar
Edgar, D. & Glezer, H. (1992) A man's place … ?: Restructuring family realities. Family Matters, 31, pp36–39.Google Scholar
Formataini, H. (1990) Men: The darker continent. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Glezer, H. (1991) Juggling work and family commitments. Family Matters, 28, pp6–10.Google Scholar
Grossman, F.K. (1987) Separate and together: Men's autonomy and affiliation in the transition to parenthood. In Berman, P.W. & Pederson, F.A. (eds.). Men's transitions to parenthood: Longitudinal studies of early family experience, pp89–112, New Jersey: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Holland, A. (1993) Men's Perceptions of fatherhood: A study of fathers' understandings of their experience of fatherhood. Doctoral dissertation, Monash University.Google Scholar
Kewley, J. & Lewis, H. (1993) Fathers. Melbourne: McPhee Gribble Google Scholar
Lamb, M.E. & Oppenheim, D. (1989) Fatherhood and father-child relationships: Five years of research, In Cath, S.H., Gurwitt, A. & Gunsberg, L. (eds.) Fathers and their families, pp11–26, Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.Google Scholar
Lamb, M.E., Pleck, J.H. & Levine, J.A. (1987) Effects of increased paternal involvement on fathers and mothers, In Lewis, C. & O'Brien, M. (eds.) Reassessing fatherhood: New observations on fathers and the modern family, pp109–125, London: Sage.Google Scholar
La Rossa, R. (1988) Fatherhood and social change, Family Relations, 37, pp451–457.Google Scholar
Levant, R. (1988) Education for fatherhood. In Bronstein, P. & Cowan, C.P. (eds.) Fatherhood today: Men's changing role in the family. pp253–275, New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Mackay, H. (1993) Reinventing Australia: The mind and mood of Australia in the 90s. Sydney: Angus and Robertson.Google Scholar
Palm, G.F. & Palkovitz, R. (1988) The challenge of working with new fathers: Implications for support providers, In Palkovitz, R. & Sussman, M.B. (eds.) Transitions to parenthood, pp357–376, New York: The Haworth Press.Google Scholar
Pleck, J.H. (1982) Husbands' and wives' paid work, family work, and adjustment. Wellesley, MA: Center for research on women. Wellesley College.Google Scholar
Pruett, K.D. (1987) The nurturing father New York: Warner Books.Google Scholar
Sagi, A. (1982) Antecedents and consequences of various degrees of paternal involvement in child rearing: The Israel Project, In Lamb, M.E. (ed.) Non-traditional families: Parenting and child development, pp205–232, Illsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Seel, R. (1987) The uncertain father, Bath: Gateway Books.Google Scholar