working with fathers to improve children’s well-being: what’s going on out there?
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Working with fathers to improve children’s well-being: What’s going on out there?. Jonathan Scourfield Cardiff University. Why work with fathers?. There is plenty of evidence that fathers influence long-term outcomes for children, positively and negatively. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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Working with fathers to improve children’s well-being: What’s going on out there?
Jonathan Scourfield Cardiff University
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Why work with fathers?• There is plenty of evidence that fathers influence long-
term outcomes for children, positively and negatively.• Evidence on interventions is less clear• Relatively little evidence for fathers specifically• What we do know shows a mixed picture
• Parenting interventions involving fathers as well as mothers are more effective (Lundahl et al., 2008)
• But fathers gain less from some parenting programmes than mothers (Wilson et al., 2012)
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Practitioner survey
Web-based (qualtrics)
221 respondents from 53% of UK local authorities
• 63% universal services• 29% targeted on fathers who are
vulnerable or in need of support• 8% specialist services for fathers with
complex needs
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Type of service % of sample
% fathers only
Structured parent training classes
63% 15%
Practical activities including play
62% 38%
Unstructured support groups 47% 39%
Advice on employment or benefits
39% 9%
Legal advice 20% 29%
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The commonest named interventionsTriple P 38 (17%)Incredible Years 25 (11%)Solihull Approach 14 (6%)Family Links Nurturing Programme 9 (4%)Mellow Parenting 5 (2%)Caring Dads * 4 (2%)National Childbirth Trust ante-natal classes 4 (2%)Parents Early Education Partnership (PEEP) 4 (2%)Strengthening Families 10-14 4 (2%)Family Caring Trust 3 (1%)Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities 3 (1%)
* The only one for fathers only
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Numbers of fathers in last 12 monthsType of service mean median range
Structured parent training classes
27 8 0-314
Practical activities including play
44 20 0-600
Unstructured support groups 20 12 0-70
Advice on employment or benefits
17 9 0-130
Legal advice 10 6 0-60
All services, including ‘other’
28 10 0-600
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Respondent’s own reason
Promote fathers’ rights
Prevent abuse of women and children
Take pressure off mothers
Improve wellbeing of fathers
Improve behaviour management
Improve father-child attachment
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Mean rank: 7=highest, 1=lowest
Intervention ideology
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Intervention theory
Family systems
Counselling
Feminist
Material help
Psychodynamic
Cognitive
Behaviourist
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Mean agreement (7=strongly agree, 1=strongly disagree)
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Recruiting fathers to interventions• Attitudinal orientation• Assumption of fathers’ involvement from the start• Better data and recording systems• Flexible working hours• Special events for fathers and children• Providing food as a draw• Acknowledging the need for cultural diversity• Recruitment via mothers• Use of text messaging and email
We need to know more about what works in recruiting fathers. Contact me if interested ([email protected])
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http://workingwithfathers.weebly.com/
Wilson, P., Rush, R., Hussey, S., Puckering, C., Sim, F., Allely, C.S., Doku, P., McConnachie, A. and Gillberg, C. (2012) How evidence-based is an 'evidence-based parenting program'? A PRISMA systematic review and meta-analysis of Triple P. BMC Medicine, 10:130.
ReferencesLundahl, B., Tollefson, D., Risser, H. and Lovejoy, M. (2008) A meta-analysis of father involvement in parent training. Research on Social Work Practice 18: 97-106.