Fathers' involvement with the Child Welfare Service

Within Northern Europe, gendered roles and responsibilities within the family have been challenged through an emergence of different family forms, increasing cultural diversity, and progressive developments in welfare policies. To varying degrees, welfare policies in different countries support a dual-earner model and encourage men to be more active as fathers by reinforcing statutory rights and responsibilities. In child welfare practice, there has traditionally been a strong emphasis on the mother as primary carer for the child; the father has been less visible. This paper explores, in four national welfare contexts, how child welfare social workers include fathers in practice decisions. Data were collected using focus group interviews with social workers from England, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden. Similarities and differences emerge in relation to services and the focus of social work assessments. However, overall, the research suggests that despite gains in policy and legislation that promote gender equality, fathers remain largely absent in child welfare practice decisions about the parenting of their children. From the research, we raise questions for social work practice and the development of welfare policies.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 48%

“…2004; Storhaug, 2013;Strega, Brown, Callahan, Dominelli, & Walmsley, 2009). Also, fathers are often seen in a negative light and as potential risks to the children and/or the mother (Storhaug, 2013;Zanoni et al, 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

What about the fathers? The presence and absence of the father in social work practice in England, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden—A comparative study

Nygren

Walsh

Ellingsen

et al. 2018

“…Yet another is the difficulty that women, including professionals, socialized to identify distress by its overt manifestations in tears and words may have in discerning the distress of men beneath the anger, rage and acting out that often covers it (Martin & Doka 2000). A fourth reason has to do with the fear that female social workers may have of men (Brown et al 2009;Scourfield et al 2012;Storhaug 2013). A fifth reason is that, as noted earlier, most social workers are ill prepared to work with men (Duggan et al 2004;Brown et al 2009;Ewart-Boyle et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender‐sensitive intervention to improve work with fathers in child welfare services

Baum

2015

A B S T R AC TAlthough the importance of including fathers in child welfare services has been increasingly recognized, social workers' engagement with fathers is still limited and sometimes fraught with negative bias. This paper attempts to lay some needed foundation to meet the challenge of working with fathers. It presents in succinct form the existing knowledge on how fathers experience and manifest their distress and on how they view the social services and social workers. It discusses, in some detail, three main issues -power relations, mutual fear and communication differences -in the interactions between female social workers and the fathers in the social welfare services. And it emphasizes the need for social workers to be aware of how their experiences with their own fathers may affect their interventions with men. It ends with observations and recommendations for developing the gender awareness that is necessary for effective practice with fathers.bs_bs_banner

“…child welfare policies and practices seems to promote the uninvolved father (p. 25) and 'Within child welfare practices, fathers are not just discounted, they are often not seen at all, even when they are present' (ibid 25). Absent or invisible fathers in child welfare services have been observed and well documented in a number of different countries (Taylor & Daniel 2000;Strega et al 2008;Dominelli et al 2011;Maxwell et al 2012;Storhaug & Øien 2012;Storhaug 2013). Fathers are seen as marginalized or ignored (Taylor & Daniel 2000) and according to Brown et al (2009) are similar to 'ghosts', as 'Ghosts seem to lack substance and can appear unexpectedly '(p. 26).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child welfare workers' views of fathers in risk assessment and planned interventions, a comparison between English and Norwegian workers

Skramstad¹,

Skivenes

2015

A B S T R AC TIn a comparison of 53 child welfare workers' risk assessment based on a vignette case about a 9-year-old girl, less than one-third of the child welfare workers in England and Norway, intended to work with fathers. Only 28% and 14%, respectively, suggested involving the stepfather, in spite that, the vignette said he lived with the girl and her mother. The invisible fathers in child welfare have been well documented, but fathers and stepfathers in particular, were surprisingly invisible in the Norwegian context, known for its strong focus on gender equality and institutionalized support for the father role. The child welfare workers seemed to prefer working with the mother and other professional agencies, rather than involving the father(s) and other family members. Although this may reflect the reality of families within child welfare, they are in contrast with the prevailing family ideology and practices in the society at large, both in England and in Norway.