Supporting Fathers in Multi-Ethnic Societies: Insights from British Asian Fathers

Abstract

There is concern that current UK policy and intervention aimed at supporting fathers remains primarily informed by dominant White middle-class values and experiences, and therefore fails to respond adequately to the needs of Britain's diverse fathers. This paper contributes to understanding of ethnic diversity in fathering contexts, practices and experiences, by reporting findings from a qualitative study of British Asian fathers, involving in-depth interviews with fifty-nine fathers and thirty-three mothers from Bangladeshi Muslim, Pakistani Muslim, Gujarati Hindu and Punjabi Sikh background, and over eight additional respondents engaged through Key Informant interviews, ethnographic interviews and group discussions. The paper highlights four areas that require greater recognition by policy-makers and practitioners to appropriately meet the needs of fathers from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. These are: recognising that fathers and mothers do not necessarily constitute an autonomous unit; appreciating diversity in fathers' understandings of desirable child outcomes; addressing additional obstacles to achieving similar outcomes for children; and understanding that the boundaries and content of fathering are not universally recognised. Policies that are less normative and more responsive to diversity are essential to ensure that all fathers can be effectively supported.

‘You can Spend Time. . .But not Necessarily be Bonding with Them’: Australian Fathers’ Constructions and Enactments of Infant Bonding

“…Qualitative research, such as this study, allows ‘connections and misalignments between individuals’ experiences, and policy and program assumptions’ to be traced thereby revealing new contours of a policy problem (Brady, 2015: 2). Examining the alignment (or misalignment) between fathers’ own desires and the new normative agenda to increase fathers’ emotional connections is important given that existing research has found that social policy interventions aimed at supporting fathers may fail to adequately address fathers’ values and experiences (Chowbey et al , 2013). This article adds to the current literature on the alignment between new policy aims to support more involved fathering and fathers’ own desires and experiences (Chowbey et al , 2013; Cosson and Graham, 2012; Ives, 2014) by illuminating the degree to which father's constructions and enactments of bonding over the first six to eight months of a child's life align with the agenda of new paternity leave schemes to increase early paternal bonding.…”

“…Existing social policy research has focused on men's beliefs about good fathering (Chowbey et al , 2013), fathers’ uptake of paternity leave (Lewis and Campbell, 2007), and the impact of this leave on the time fathers devote to childcare and housework (Bünning, 2015; Haas and Hwang, 2008; Schober, 2014). However, even though increasing emotional bonds is one of the central aims of new paternity leave schemes, research has largely not explored how paternity leave policies shape fathers’ emotional connections with infants 1 or the degree to which policy aims align with fathers’ own beliefs and desires.…”

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

“…Birth fathers may not be around, and it may be difficult for the case worker to know if mothers' boyfriends are stable. Furthermore, Chowbey et al (2013) argue that UK policies and interventions that aimed at supporting fathers were primarily based on dominant white middle-class values and experiences, and thus failed to respond adequately to the needs of Britain's diverse fathers.…”

“…Furthermore, Chowbey et al . () argue that UK policies and interventions that aimed at supporting fathers were primarily based on dominant white middle‐class values and experiences, and thus failed to respond adequately to the needs of Britain's diverse fathers.…”

Parenthood between Generations

“…The majority of British Asian men become fathers, and fatherhood is a key component of identity for most U.K. Asian men (Beishon, Modood and Virdee 1998;). Yet little is known about how British Asian men experience and practise fatherhood or how their fatherhood is shaped and constrained by structural factors alongside individual and family-level influences (Chowbey, Salway and Clarke 2013). Complex migration experiences, unemployment or poor employment, and systematic minoritization can make being a father challenging for South Asian men (Platt 2002;Salway, Chowbey and Clarke 2009).…”