Fatherhood in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities: An Examination of Barriers and Opportunities to Strengthen the Male Parenting Role

Abstract

Traditional Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies value men’s role as parents; however, the importance of promoting fatherhood as a key social determinant of men’s well-being has not been fully appreciated in Western medicine. To strengthen the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male parenting role, it is vital to examine current barriers and opportunities. The first author (a male Aboriginal health project officer) conducted yarning sessions in three remote Australian communities, two being Aboriginal, the other having a high Aboriginal population. An expert sample of 25 Aboriginal and 6 non-Aboriginal stakeholders, including maternal and child health workers and men’s group facilitators, considered barriers and opportunities to improve men’s parenting knowledge and role, with an aim to inform services and practices intended to support men’s parenting. A specific aim was to shape an existing men’s group program known as Strong Fathers, Strong Families. A thematic analysis of data from the project identified barriers and opportunities to support men’s role as parents. Challenges included the transition from traditional to contemporary parenting practices and low level of cultural and male gender sensitivity in maternal and child health services. Services need to better understand and focus on men’s psychological empowerment and to address shame and lack of confidence around parenting. Poor literacy and numeracy are viewed as contributing to disempowerment. Communities need to champion Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male father role models. Biases and barriers should be addressed to improve service delivery and better enable men to become empowered and confident fathers.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and parenting: a scoping review

“…Moreover, the realms of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male parenting remains underfunded and under-resourced, and as Panter-Brick et al (2014) suggests, men-only parenting services 'are often add-on to other programmes, and deemed unsustainable when resources are short' (Panter-Brick et al 2014, p. 1208. The lack of appropriate education, support programs and services available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male parents has not stopped this cohort of males from engaging in and wanting to fulfil their roles and responsibilities as parents (Jia 2000;Newell et al 2006; Males in Black Inc. and Uni-tingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010; Parker 2010; Hammond 2011; Kurti et al 2013;Collard et al 2016;Fletcher 2017;Rossiter et al 2017;Reilly and Rees 2018).…”

“…Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men rarely rate a mention within discussions of parenting (Reilly and Rees 2018), unless framed in the negative (Stuart et al 2015) or as the cause of dysfunctional family life (Stoneham et al 2014). Contributing to this exclusion is a parenting domain, which is dominated by a narrative that tends to exclusively focus and privilege the roles and responsibilities of females (Astone and Peters 2014).…”

“Aquí (en Sídney) estamos perdidos”: estudio etnográfico de la satisfacción vital de aborígenes urbanos australianos participantes en un programa sociocomunitario

“…Esto resta posibilidades al desarrollo de la capacidad de autonomía y toma de decisiones (61) . Estamos ante competencias y habilidades cognitivo-operativas que no solo han sido relacionadas con el crecimiento personal y el desarrollo de bienestar, sino también con la posibilidad de participar de manera efectiva como miembro activo de una comunidad (62,63,64) . En el caso concreto de programas como en el que se participó, esto contribuye a generar una respuesta instrumental y asistencialista, por parte de las familias aborígenes, para beneficiarse de una serie de recursos y gestiones que, en definitiva, pueden estar siendo una barrera para generar un mayor nivel de desarrollo humano y capacidad de integración social.…”

“When I got the news”: Aboriginal fathers in the Kimberley region yarning about their experience of the antenatal period

“…In addition, services often promote and provide ANC through a maternal lens. 28,29 These factors may result in men feeling marginalised and peripheral in accessing or engaging with ANC services. 1,8 For Aboriginal people in Australia, their role as parents and caregivers has experienced significant and sustained disruption through colonisation, forced removal from cultural homelands, government policies of removing children and enduring policies of displacement and discrimination.…”

“…30 Recent qualitative research findings have demonstrated that Aboriginal men aspire to assume responsibility for fatherhood early, embody the notion of complementary caregiver and promote cultural pride in their children. [29][30][31]33 Amongst the studies exploring contemporary expressions and experiences of Aboriginal fatherhood, [29][30][31][33][34][35] Aboriginal men's journey through the ANC period remains underexplored. This study aimed to explore some Aboriginal men's perceptions of self and their intersection with ANC service providers during the ANC period.…”