Fatherhood is changing throughout history. From hunters, who took care of the family by gathering and hunting food to a new kind of fatherhood, which has led to the active role of the father in the family. Fathers, as much as mothers, represent strong pillars in the process of child’s well-being. Despite the greater involvement of fathers in children’s socialization over the past few decades, most parenting research still focuses on the role of the mother in child development.
My research is qualitative, exploratory and empirical. Since this is, at least in Slovenia, still a somewhat unexplored area, I became familiar with the new phenomenon. I collected verbal descriptions of eight fathers from heterosexual and two-parent families using the questioning method, and the interview guide served as a measuring instrument.
In the research, I have learnt that fathers offer their children help and encouragement in their parenting role, where their voice is important, however fathers still maintain their authority in the family. Both equal and traditional division of roles are presented in families. I realized that patterns brought from the primary family affect greatly on the role of fathers. Fathers lack time for taking care of themselves, yet they try to find a moment to relax. The fathers who were included in the research understand the active role as a father in the family as a balanced contribution of the parent to the upbringing of the children and inclusion in housework. Fathers are involved in children’s school activities. Fathers find being complement with the mother of their children important. When children find themselves in a fearful situation, they also turn to fathers, who respond to their children with conversation and encouragement. Fathers have good possibilities of reconciling work and parenthood. They have all taken paternity leave and they think this contributed to developing their relationship with the children. Fathers lack spending time with their children and want spend it even more. They also suggested some new ways of reconciling work and parenting.
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