Understandings and Experiences of Involved Fathering in the United Kingdom: Exploring Classed Dimensions

Val Gillies
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Val Gillies: Families and Social Capital Research Group at London South Bank University

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2009, vol. 624, issue 1, 49-60

Abstract: In the United Kingdom, current family policy seeks to prioritize fathering as a social issue. The author critically examines the assumptions and expectations that underpin this approach, comparing and contrasting it with data from qualitative interviews with fathers. It highlights the class-specific nature of fathers' everyday values and experiences, pointing to the way policy-sanctioned models of fatherhood are grounded in middle-class perspectives. The author also argues that the policy discourse of the “involved father†promotes a particular role for fathers as educational facilitators, overlooking the more mundane aspects of care most often associated with motherhood.

Keywords: fathering; class; policy; parenting; men (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:624:y:2009:i:1:p:49-60

DOI: 10.1177/0002716209334295

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