Alsager Alya, McCann Juliet K, Bhojani Alina, Joachim Damas, Joseph Julieth, Gibbs Andrew, Kabati Mary, Jeong Joshua
Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, College of Public Health, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2024 Jul 11;4(7):e0002587. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002587. eCollection 2024.
Globally, perceptions of idealized fatherhood have been expanding beyond men's breadwinning roles to also value men's engagement in nurturing care. While fathers' caregiving behaviors are increasing, most childcare activities are still largely performed by mothers. In this study, we unpacked community members' beliefs about the meaning of "good fathers" and explored the degree to which these values aligned with the main caregiving behaviors reported about fathers with young children under age 2 years in Mwanza, Tanzania. Qualitative data were collected as part of a broader formative research study for which we conducted in-depth interviews with 29 fathers, 23 mothers, 4 village leaders and 4 community health workers as well as 3 focus group discussions with fathers, 2 with mothers, and 6 with both fathers and mothers combined. For this secondary data analysis, we used a grounded theory approach combined with thematic content analysis to investigate the nature of fatherhood. We discovered four key ideals associated with "good fathers": fathers as providers, nurturers, supportive partners, and authoritarians. The primary ideal of fathers as breadwinners was strongly aligned with the main reported practice of fathers trying hard to financially providing for their families. However, paternal behaviors reflecting ideals of fathers as nurturers and supportive partners were less practiced. Although ideals towards good fathers as authoritarian were least explicitly valued, many fathers were reported as engaging in controlling behaviors and using violence. The links between fatherhood ideals and behaviors was influenced by various factors, including poverty, men's limited time availability at home, and restrictive gender norms. Overall, our results reveal some alignment but also inconsistencies between the ideal version of fatherhood and commonly reported paternal practices. These discrepancies highlight the need for further investigation into the underlying factors that both enable and constrain the links between fatherhood ideals and behaviors. Our study results have important implications for the design of interventions that seek to enhance fatherhood to improve the development and wellbeing of children and families.
在全球范围内，对理想化父亲角色的认知已从男性作为养家糊口者的角色扩展到重视男性参与养育照料。虽然父亲的照料行为在增加，但大多数育儿活动仍主要由母亲进行。在本研究中，我们剖析了社区成员对“好父亲”含义的看法，并探讨了这些价值观与坦桑尼亚姆万扎地区2岁以下幼儿父亲所报告的主要照料行为的契合程度。定性数据是作为一项更广泛的形成性研究的一部分收集的，为此我们对29位父亲、23位母亲、4位村长和4位社区卫生工作者进行了深入访谈，并与父亲进行了3次焦点小组讨论，与母亲进行了2次，与父亲和母亲共同进行了6次。对于这项二次数据分析，我们采用了扎根理论方法并结合主题内容分析来研究父亲角色的本质。我们发现了与“好父亲”相关的四个关键理想类型：作为供养者的父亲、养育者、支持性伴侣和专制者。父亲作为养家糊口者的首要理想类型与所报告的父亲努力在经济上供养家庭的主要行为紧密契合。然而，体现父亲作为养育者和支持性伴侣理想类型的行为较少被践行。尽管对作为专制者的好父亲的理想类型最不被明确重视，但许多父亲被报告存在控制行为并使用暴力。父亲角色理想类型与行为之间的联系受到多种因素的影响，包括贫困、男性在家时间有限以及严格的性别规范。总体而言，我们的结果揭示了父亲角色的理想版本与普遍报告的父亲行为之间既有契合之处，也存在不一致之处。这些差异凸显了有必要进一步调查促成和限制父亲角色理想类型与行为之间联系的潜在因素。我们的研究结果对于旨在强化父亲角色以改善儿童和家庭发展与福祉的干预措施设计具有重要意义。
