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Absence makes the professional try harder? Meeting the needs of socially excluded young men who become fathers

Absence makes the professional try harder? Meeting the needs of socially excluded young men who become fathers

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Reeves, Jane (2007) Absence makes the professional try harder? Meeting the needs of socially excluded young men who become fathers. In: The emotional management of parents who give birth to a child with a disability or critical illness International Conference, 21-22 May 2007, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Research on socially excluded young fathers has been minimally addressed in the literature (SEU 1999, 2004). Indeed, research on young parents which informs health and social care professionals is often presented ‘through the eyes of the mother’ (Reeves 2006). Young parents in general and young fathers in particular are notoriously difficult to gain access to and engage with (Tyrer et al 2005) particularly if they have had previous negative involvement with the statutory services. Moreover, as Daniel and Taylor (1999, 2001, 2003) point out, professionals working in the health and care services often have an intense ‘maternal’ focus and this often excludes fathers from discussion and decisions about their children.
The focus of this paper, drawing on two narrative studies of young fathers aged between 15-24 from the US and USA, is to evaluate the features of professional relationships that young fathers describe as finding helpful. Indeed, the findings discuss moving away from a culture of parenting classes, which all the young men interviewed described as finding problematical and in some cases embarrassing, to a culture of support which actively draws on their strengths and helps them become providers for their new families.

Item Type: Conference or Conference Paper (Paper)
Uncontrolled Keywords: socially excluded young fathers, health and social care professionals, narrative studies, support, USA
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Pre-2014 Departments: School of Health & Social Care
School of Health & Social Care > Family Care & Mental Health Department
Related URLs:
Last Modified: 14 Oct 2016 09:07
URI: http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/2593

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