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

Families and Social Capital Research Group at London South Bank University

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.

Key Words: fathering • class • policy • parenting • men

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 624, No. 1, 49-60 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0002716209334295


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