IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v35y2013i10p1751-1759.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fathers' involvement with the Child Welfare Service

Author

Listed:
  • Storhaug, Anita Skårstad

Abstract

Despite an increased focus on fathers' importance for children's development and the Nordic countries' focus on gender equality, a number of studies claim that the Child Welfare Service (CWS) fails to involve fathers. However, few studies have taken the perspective of CWS workers. The aim of the article is to identify central discourses on fathers among CWS workers in Norway. Two central questions are: How do CWS workers understand fathers? And from their perspectives: What promotes and inhibits the involvement of fathers? To explore these themes, four focus group interviews were conducted, with 14 CWS workers. Four central discourses on fathers were identified: Mothers and fathers as gender neutral, fathers as little involved, fathers as (more) involved, and mothers and fathers as different. Factors that promote the involvement of fathers were society's increased focus on gender equality, society's and fathers' own changed perception of fathers' role, and increased focus on children's networks. Factors identified as inhibiting involvement were lack of resources, fear of conflicts, negative descriptions of fathers, and uncertainty regarding legislation. Explanations for fathers' own lack of involvement were fear of confrontations, prioritisation of a new family, and a lack of understanding of their importance for the child. Different discourses on fathers lead to different practices regarding the involvement of fathers. By failing to involve fathers, an incomplete picture of the family's resources and challenges is provided. This hampers targeted measures to ensure the best outcome for the child.

Suggested Citation

  • Storhaug, Anita Skårstad, 2013. "Fathers' involvement with the Child Welfare Service," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1751-1759.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:35:y:2013:i:10:p:1751-1759
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.08.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740913002624
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.08.006?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kathleen Harris & Frank Furstenberg & Jeremy Marmer, 1998. "Paternal involvement with adolescents in intact families: The influence of fathers over the life course," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 35(2), pages 201-216, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Julia S. Goldberg, 2011. "Identity Salience and Involvement among Resident and Nonresident Fathers," Working Papers 1323, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    2. repec:mpr:mprres:3679 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Robert G. Wood & Anu Rangarajan & John Deke, "undated". "WFNJ Clients Under Welfare Reform: How Is an Early Group Faring Over Time?," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 32fc33e1160a4682b83019769, Mathematica Policy Research.
    4. Nancy E. Cohen, 2003. "Unmarried African American Fathers' Involvement with Their Infants: The Role of Couple Relationships," Working Papers 954, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    5. Midori Otani, 2017. "Relationships of Parental Involvement and Adolescents’ Academic Achievement and Aspiration," OSIPP Discussion Paper 17E004, Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University.
    6. Michael Grätz & Florencia Torche, 2016. "Compensation or Reinforcement? The Stratification of Parental Responses to Children’s Early Ability," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(6), pages 1883-1904, December.
    7. Jocelyn Wikle & Clara Cullen, 2023. "The Developmental Course of Parental Time Investments in Children from Infancy to Late Adolescence," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-22, February.
    8. Ulrik H. Nielsen, 2014. "Parents' Education and their Adult Offspring's Other-Regarding Behavour," Discussion Papers 14-03, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    9. Jarl E. Mooyaart & Aart C. Liefbroer, 2016. "The Influence of Parental Education on Timing and Type of Union Formation: Changes Over the Life Course and Over Time in the Netherlands," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(4), pages 885-919, August.
    10. Stahlschmidt, Mary Jo & Threlfall, Jennifer & Seay, Kristen D. & Lewis, Ericka M. & Kohl, Patricia L., 2013. "Recruiting fathers to parenting programs: Advice from dads and fatherhood program providers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1734-1741.
    11. Drange, Nina, 2012. "Crowding out Dad? The Effect of a Cash-for-Care Subsidy on Family time Allocation," UiS Working Papers in Economics and Finance 2012/3, University of Stavanger.
    12. Mary Tien Wei Leung Ling & Hui Fang Chen & Kace Chun Ning Chiu, 2020. "Parental Warmth and Involvement and the Self-Esteem of Young People in Hong Kong," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 13(3), pages 801-817, June.
    13. repec:pri:crcwel:wp11-14-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Amy Hsin & Christina Felfe, 2014. "When Does Time Matter? Maternal Employment, Children’s Time With Parents, and Child Development," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(5), pages 1867-1894, October.
    15. Mangiavacchi, Lucia & Piccoli, Luca & Pieroni, Luca, 2021. "Fathers matter: Intrahousehold responsibilities and children's wellbeing during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    16. Marcia J. Carlson & Katherine A. Magnuson, 2011. "Low-Income Fathers’ Influence on Children," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 635(1), pages 95-116, May.
    17. Katrin Huber, 2019. "Changes in parental leave and young children’s non-cognitive skills," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 89-119, March.
    18. repec:pri:crcwel:wp03-13-ff-cohen is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Emily Smith-Greenaway, 2020. "Does Parents’ Union Instability Disrupt Intergenerational Advantage? An Analysis of Sub-Saharan Africa," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(2), pages 445-473, April.
    20. Katrin Huber, 2015. "Moving to an earnings-related parental leave system – do heterogeneous effects on parents make some children worse off?," Working Papers 160, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    21. Spitzer, Sonja & Hammer, Bernhard, 2016. "The Division of Labour Within Households: Fractional Logit Estimates based on the Austrian Time Use Survey," MPRA Paper 81791, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    22. Deborah Cobb-Clark & Erdal Tekin, 2014. "Fathers and youths’ delinquent behavior," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 327-358, June.
    23. Esther Geisler & Michaela R. Kreyenfeld, 2012. "How policy matters: Germany’s parental leave benefit reform and fathers’ behavior 1999-2009," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2012-021, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:35:y:2013:i:10:p:1751-1759. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.