ABSTRACT

The significance of fathers in the lives of their children is increasingly getting recognition worldwide, including in South Africa. However, critical gaps exist in the inclusion of fathers as child protection is maternally focussed and it seems to be a particular form of gatekeeping for fathers. This study engaged involved fathers on their inclusion and/or exclusion in identifying solutions toward their increased participation in relationship building with their children in a residential care facility. It this way, it also builds on family strengthening and reunification interventions.

This was a qualitative study. Purposive sampling was applied and involved fathers with children in care were recruited by social workers. Using observation and interviews, three involved fathers were interviewed, and the data was analyzed using interpretive phenomenological analysis. The findings indicate that although fathers wanted to participate in the lives of their children, they felt alienated. Thus, a transformative gender-sensitive social work and gender-conscious practice with men is recommended through development of specialized models of working with men similar to approaches with and for marginalized clients. Improved engagement of fathers and enhancing father-mother-child relationships are crucial for transformative child welfare and family practice and toward family strengthening and reunification interventions.

摘要

父亲在孩子生活中的重要性越来越得到全世界的认可，包括在南非。然而，在将父亲纳入方面存在重大差距，因为儿童保护以母亲为重点，而且这似乎是父亲把关的一种特殊形式。这项研究让父亲参与和/或排除他们在寻找解决方案以增加他们在寄宿照料机构中与孩子建立关系的参与。这样，它也建立在家庭巩固和团聚干预的基础上。

这是一项定性研究。应用了有目的的抽样，社会工作者招募了有孩子照顾的父亲。通过观察和访谈，对三名参与其中的父亲进行了访谈，并使用解释性现象学分析对数据进行了分析。调查结果表明，尽管父亲想参与孩子的生活，但他们感到疏远。因此，建议通过开发与边缘化客户类似的方法与男性合作的专门模式，对男性进行变革性的性别敏感社会工作和性别意识实践。提高父亲的参与度和加强父子关系对于变革性儿童福利和家庭实践以及加强家庭和团聚干预至关重要。