The evolving father : conduct and culture in contemporary fatherhood

Abstract

This study builds on previous academic interest into fathers, fatherhood and fathering and aims to describe and understand the nature of contemporary fatherhood for a group of first-time fathers. The research set out to examine the role that gender plays in the construction of fatherhood, to provide clear hypotheses about family relationships and to locate contemporary fathering within a wider social context. The research had three main phases. The first phase involved the distribution and collection of a questionnaire, "Becoming A Parent", to expectant couples in a maternity hospital. The questionnaire was designed to provide empirical contextual data and act as a sifting device to recruit a sample of expectant fathers. The second and third phases of the study were qualitative longitudinal in-depth interviews. Expectant fathers were interviewed during the late stages of their partners’ pregnancy, and re-interviewed when their babies were five months old.