Calling all dads! (From Free Press Series)

Calling all dads!

8:49am Sunday 29th June 2008

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THE lives of people across the UK are being explored as part of a nationwide research project to build a picture of British life in the early 21st century.

Researchers from the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University are involved in this five-year Timescapes' project.

The project is the first and biggest of its kind ever conducted in the UK and is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council to document ways that people's personal relationships and identities unfold over their lifetime.

The research team at Cardiff University, led by Dr Karen Henwood, is specifically looking at the ways in which men understand their experiences of being a first-time father. The team are keen to talk to soon-to-be fathers in Cardiff and South Wales.

Fathers may not have to deal with morning sickness or giving birth, but the transition to becoming a father for the first time has its own emotional and practical challenges which the research team believe people should know more about.

Surprisingly, what happens to men when they become fathers for the first time has not received much research attention in the past.

In a previous study on the transition to first-time fatherhood led by Dr Karen Henwood, then at the University of East Anglia, becoming a father had a range of effects on men and their relationships.

This research showed that fathers placed more emphasis on playing, caring and being involved with their children than being head of the house and in charge of discipline.

"This is about more than wanting to be a good father", said Dr Henwood, "it is also about men as fathers working out a place for themselves in a changing world."

"What is important about our study", said Dr Henwood, "is that it sheds light on how life histories, relationships, personal memories and society all impact on how men make sense of the changes involved in becoming a father and what kinds of changes are seen as important."

According to the Cardiff researchers, one kind of shift that is important for many men is a changed view of personal identity and masculinity.

"So far, fathers-to-be in South Wales are not aspiring to live in a family in more traditional ways, like the Victorian father of old", said Dr Henwood.

"The message is that fathers expect to be the sturdy oak on the one hand but also want to be more emotionally involved on the other".

According to Dr Henwood, this can cause some men some conflict around men's understandings of who they are and what's expected of them.

"Some have talked about feeling detached from the pregnancy and even wanting to stay at home full-time to look after their child", she said.

Finding out how men cope with the challenges of being a father in today's society is what makes the research at Cardiff University so interesting and useful.

A key aim is to find out what kinds of things men in South Wales are taking on board and moving away from as fathers, and why.

"We want to explore men's aspirations for fatherhood and what it means to be a man and a father.

"We want to find out what first-time fathers living in South Wales hope and fear, what they feel, and how it's different to what they might have expected", said Dr Henwood.

"It will help us to understand some of the psychological effects of becoming a father and the differences across geographical and cultural contexts in Britain", said Dr Henwood.

Dr Henwood said that she is looking for "a wide range of expectant fathers - young, older, unemployed and employed, married and unmarried", to be involved in the study. The study involves talking to men before and after they become fathers for the first time.

Participants will be paid £10 an interview.

For more information, contact Fiona Shirani at the School of Social Sciences on 02920 875348.

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