Interprofessional Approaches to Young Fathers

Description

One of the aims of the book is to draw together contemporary research evidence, social theory and policy which may effect how practitioners, students and academics conceptualise and work with young fathers. Consequently, each chapter illustrates the points it makes using discrete evidence from that particular field. Moreover, in order to make this process more user friendly each chapter provides a summary of this literature and evidence. Finally, in order to make the book come alive it draws on case studies, which are drawn, variously, from two studies conducted by the editor. Contents include: Contextualising the evidence: Young fathers, family and professional support The legislative and policy context of young fathers and their children I ve got to release it : sexual health and young men A father is born: the role of the midwife in involving young fathers in the birth and early parenting of their children Safeguarding young fathers and their children The role of fathers in their children s lives Recklessness, rescue and responsibility

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique
• Social theory

Informations

• Publié par: M&K Publishing
• Date de parution: 17 septembre 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781907830297
• Langue: English

Extrait

Inter-professional approaches to young fathers
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Inter-professional approaches to young fathers
Edited by Jane Reeves
Inter-professional approaches to young fathers Jane Reeves
ISBN: 978-1-905539-29-1
First published 2008
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Contents
List of figures and tables
List of contributors
Introduction Jane Reeves
1 Contextualising the evidence: Young fathers, family and professional support
Jane Reeves and Frances Rehal
2 The legislative and policy context of young fathers and their children
Janet Webb
3 I ve got to release it : sexual health and young men
Ros Delaney
4 A father is born: the role of the midwife in involving young fathers in the birth and early parenting of their children
Liz Gale
5 Safeguarding young fathers and their children
Janet Webb
6 The role of fathers in their children s lives
Rosa Panades-Blas
7 Recklessness, rescue and responsibility
Jane Reeves
Index
Figures
1.1 Inter-relationship of networks for young fathers
3.1 Features of hegemonic heterosexuality as seen by adolescent boys
6.1 Routes into and out of single parenthood
6.2 Cycle of exclusion model
6.3 The four pillars
7.1 Key points for professional interventions with young fathers
Tables
3.1 Some common descriptions associated with masculinity and femininity
4.1 The role of the midwife in involving young fathers
5.1 Facts and figures for England and Wales
5.2 Indicators associated with increased likelihood of child abuse
7.1 Features associates with youth crime
7.2 Features associated with young fatherhood
7.3 Positive outcomes of becoming a young father
Contributors
Ros Delaney, Senior Lecturer, RGN, RM, ADM, PGCEA, BSc. (Hons) , Senior Lecturer Sexual Health, Department of Family Care and Mental Health, School of Health and Social Care, University of Greenwich.
Liz Gale, RGN, RM, BSc. (Hons) , Senior Lecturer Midwifery, Department of Family Care and Mental Health, School of Health and Social Care, University of Greenwich.
Rosa Panades-Blas BA (Hons) Sociology, MA Social Research , Full Time PhD Student, Department of Family Care and Mental Health, School of Health and Social Care, University of Greenwich.
Dr Jane Reeves, BA (Hons), CQSW, MPhil, PhD , Research Lead, Department of Family Care and Mental Health, School of Health and Social Care, University of Greenwich.
Frances Rehal RN RHV, BSc , Chief Executive, Sure Start Millmead.
Janet Webb RN Child, RGN, RNT, MSc Research (Health), BEd, Diploma in Nursing , Professional Lead Child Health and Welfare, Department of Family Care and Mental Health, School of Health and Social Care, University of Greenwich.
For our children: Richard, Charlotte, Isabelle, Wills, Henry, Alice, Samuel, Sorcha, Liam, Sergio and Nico.
Introduction
Jane Reeves

With one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe, young fatherhood, as a site of economic and personal adversity, has become a focus of concern in Britain during the late 1990s. However, despite this policy interest there is surprisingly little British empirical evidence to review.
(O Brian 2004: 20)
Research interest in young fathers has grown from the large amount of contemporary literature on teenage mothers (SEU 1999, 2004, Swann et al . 2003) as well as raised awareness of fatherhood generally (Tyrer et al . 2005). Like O Brian (2004), quoted above, the Teenage Pregnancy Unit (SEU 1999, 2004) argues that fathers are still a largely unexplored part of the problem of teenage pregnancy, although some studies in the UK have looked at their contribution (Simms Smith 1986, Hudson Ineichen 1991, Speak et al . 1997, Tyrer et al . 2005, Reeves 2006). Most of the policy initiatives on teenage pregnancy have been aimed at mothers and their children, however a recent document argued that while the negative consequences of teenage pregnancy are felt most by young women and their children, it is important that strategies to reduce teenage pregnancy also impact on young men s attitudes and behaviour (DfES 2006: 7).
Generally however, the needs of young fathers in the UK have gone largely unnoticed and there is great variation, and thus no consistency, amongst regions in the UK in terms of how much work is done with them (Sheriff 2007).
Recent figures indicate that there are some 80,000 registered married and unmarried young fathers under the age of 24 ( www.statistics.gov.uk/2005 ), a substantial number, and many may benefit from professional help. However, these statistics on young fathers in the UK, whilst providing some insight, do not reveal the full extent of young men who father a child, as the figures only include those who are named on the child s birth certificate. Moreover, these statistics also do not include ethnic background or whether a young father is resident or non-resident in their child s life.
If, in line with the statistics above, 24 and under is taken as the benchmark for considering young fathers, it can be seen that research which directly focuses on the needs of this group is in its infancy. Indeed, it is widely agreed that young fathers do not form a homogeneous group: some young fathers are resident, some are not and this status may change over time, some may be offenders, some may have a physical or learning disability and others may have varied cultural and ethnic influences on them. It is, however, possible to identify factors which make some young men vulnerable to becoming a father at a young age and these factors are primarily linked to deprivation and social exclusion. Young fathers are more likely to come from lower socio-economic groups (Hudson Ineichen 1991, Swann et al . 2003) and families facing financial hardships (Kiernan 1995; Tyrer et al . 2005). In addition, they are likely to have left school at the minimum age and as Tyrer et al . (2005: 1108) remark they, are more likely to have engaged in youth offending, with some estimates suggesting that more than a quarter of young men in young offenders institutions are already fathers or expectant fathers. Moreover, teenage relationships are also fragile and in danger of breaking down (Allen Dowling 1998) with recent research from the US indicating that multi-partnering is becoming increasingly common with either party moving on to further relationships and to have more children (Benjamin Furstenberg 2007; Raneri Weinmann 2007) creating a web of often complex young families, with which professionals are increasingly involved. Accordingly, a young man could be a biological father to children he is living with and some that he is not and he may also be living with children that are not his own, further complicating his life and relationships. This book is primarily concerned with resident and non-resident young fathers and their biological children, although some of the scenarios and practice points in the book could be applied to young men and their cohabiting children.
It is pointed out that data on young fathers is less easy to come by because it is not systematically collated (Swann et al . 2003: 13) but also because young fathers, particularly if they are non-resident, are a difficult group to gain access to (Tyrer et al . 2005; Reeves 2006). It would seem that there are many divergent reasons for this, for example as Daniel an