The psychological, emotional and physical results of fatherhood are evidently conditional on the context where they are living in. The study will wish to establish the existing interrelations between distinct contemporary kinds of fatherhood and paternal mental well-being. The data will be collected from subjects using the qualitative and quantitative means such as the interviews, issuance of questionnaire either open-ended or closed-ended, observation and conducting clinical trials of genes related fathers. Stepfathers, adoptive fathers and lastly the foster fathers inhabiting the English-speaking states of west London. The research will first tackle deeply on the categorisation of various already established family gatherings. Secondly, the survey will pay interest on the on the resulting issues associated with the contemporary kinds of fatherhood linked to mental well-being in west London. The study will target only fathers having one or more children of age 18 and below
The existing literature clearly states that a family setting comprising of both parents who are seemed to both contributing to the birth of the child through genetic makeup are the beneficiaries of paternal well-being whereas families who have different family ties are seen to experience diminished paternal mental well-being linked to sociodemographic or other related characteristics. The unfavourable factors leading to impaired well-being is the history homestead act of separation witnessed in non-residential genetic related fathers and blended households and lastly the absence of father-child contact. The key factors of preventing fathers from the adverse effects mentioned above are staying together in one structural homestead, ensuring that biological fathers have stronger bonds with their children and by creating a more intact family.
Contemporary Fatherhood
Introduction
Basing from the last few decades, the western society fatherhood is seen to have shifted from the authoritative nature and emotionally detached to fatherhood whose task has been directed to nurturing of their offspring. The current homestead has expectations from their fathers to extend a hand of care and emotional support to their children. These are shown by the tremendous rise in the figures of fathers who affirm the desire to be more involved in the affairs of their children. Additionally, men are seen spending their time with their children and engaging in the sharing of family responsibilities with the mothers, furthermore, the main activities seen to engage the involvement of fathers and their children are recreational activities, counselling, teaching and offering emotional support. (Brown, 2017).
During the early life of children, there is a need for them to develop emotional, sociological and physical fitness as Sarkadi (2008, p.8) argues. In the last decades, much attention has been witnessed in an attempt to deal with the issue of the relationship between mother and child leaving behind the implications created by the relations of father to his child. The efforts made by fathers in different societies in West London Countries is still relatively not confirmed. However, strong engagement of fathers in raising the children in the modern era is still not being looked for as a great achievement. This concept disputes the fact where there exist clear indications of current involvement of fathers in nurturing child life. Moreover, as fathers are becoming more responsible, matters of significance arises on the impacts resulting from the child-father relations. (Yeung WJ, 2001, p.136).
The paternal responsibilities for fathers do not link only to happiness and other benefits but have the possibility to bring negative psychosocial impacts. Moreover, being a father is regarded as detrimental and rewarding, since possessing children triggers social and psychological resources but in the other direction tends to enhance daily wants and pressure to settle them. For one transforming to a father is faced with several challenges in the aspect of psychology. For instance, apart from money and time needed for the family, the work of the father is assumed to be characterised by stress load. Specifically, the paternal role and lack of security in regards to father’s duty tends to increase before and after birth of extra child. Additionally, according to Garfield et al, (2014, p.133), a reduction in conjugal satisfaction and parental relations leads to an increase in the possibility of acquiring a mental ill-health. But these arguments are disputed by the Matthey et al, (2000, p.16) where it states that there is a rise in mental-health during and little amount after one has changed to fatherhood or arising from the birth of another child.
The study also targets to establish if there are positives relations, negatives relations or the possibility of null relations between the aspect of fatherhood in relation to the health of mind which may emerge be as a result of the difference in ages, residential places, social economic factors and co-residence with children. (T, 2012, p.25).
The emotional benefits of fatherhood are in lesser times overwhelmed by the factors such as time and spending on poor child care services. A need arises for fathers to be eased of this burden for them to be more responsible. Additionally, the stage of becoming a father is perceived as stressing but upon advancement of family’s stability, the consequences of fatherhood begin to shift to the positive side.
The psychological state of any father in the society is portrayed as an important role in the family at large in an event that the father engages in any activity which affects the mother of his offspring’s, and the involvement in nourishing of his children is a clear way of determining the potential scenarios in which fathers invest in their children.
Statement of the problem
The problem of the study is the urge to seek knowledge about the correlation existing between the contemporary fatherhood in their role of parenting and its association to the psychological health. Specifically lack of detailed ideas in the categorisation of various current existing families and the role of fatherhood in several family gatherings in the West London countries. The existing literature does not clearly establish evidence on the level of mental well-being from fathers linked genetically to their children with well-established households and the other forms largely categorised as traditional forms. Many fathers who have a history of family separation have experienced adverse effects of the fatherhood psychological impaired well-being. Additionally, there exists less knowledge about the hypothesis that sociodemographic and partnership factors also contribute to the well-being of all sorts of fathers residing in the contemporary families across the population of west London (Evernson, 2005, p.341).
This study will explore the cross-sectional and longitudinal study designs to know whether fathers who underwent event of separation due to divorce, making them stay away from their children tend to express low levels of mental well-being, keeping the sociodemographic and partnership related aspect constant. The study will ultimately establish if fathers who stay away from their children are likely to suffer from depression leading to worse well being or if there is no any relationship between the two variables in the context of fatherhood. Furthermore, the study will major its interest whether families staying with fathers not related genetically with their children having or lacking birth of an extra child assumed to be linked genetically enhances reduced sense of mental well-being.
Stable families, less stable and traditions sorts of families will be surveyed to examine this discrepancy in the levels of outcomes due to the difference in the levels of fatherhood and general paternity.
The relationship which may erupt has the possibility to continue in the future due to the high number of families reported to have separated due to domestic violence in various parts of the West London countries these calls for the urgent research to analyse the current numbers of fathers undergoing psychologic distress due to above reasons. (Scott, 2017).
The rising issues in the contemporary fatherhood need an innovative solution. For instance, one approach is by identifying those who are suffering the negative symptoms of psychological well-being thus offering them physical and emotional support to mitigate the unfavourable consequences befalling them. Lastly, the gathering of data in this study helps in getting information which may attract the attention of various institutions to addressing the menace.
Justification of the statement
Western form of fatherhood is seen to have improved as compared to the pre-modernization era. The study needs to establish the consequences of fatherhood paternal care to their mental health. The study also tends to clearly state what factors predict the level with which the father gets involved with the child’s affairs, for instance, child’s traits, positive attributes and education level of their mother. To add on, it majors on the barriers inhibiting fathers from involving themselves in children affairs.
The important area of the survey is to confirm the aspects that lead to the assumption of the duty of the father in the contemporary paternal care. In distinction with the already existing research, the topic wishes to avail a deep elaboration and categorisation of the various forms of fatherhood which among them are traditional, divorced, one parent, blended family and lastly the socio-fatherhood types. The study seeks to control a large number of confounding variables while investigating the results of the distinct contemporary homestead collections of various sides of paternal mental well-being. Moreover, the investigation looks forward to determining potential mechanism primary to differences in the well-being in some fatherhood types not excluding the features of active engagement of father in child development. Besides that, the survey tries to confirm the hypothesis that fathers with the stable two-biological-child connection show greater mental well-being than father attached to other kinds of genetic contact. Furthermore, I propose that fathers with a past event of a divorce from their children of same genetic traits seem to present an impaired well-being and that variations between the distinct father types are partly facilitated by the lesser father-child interaction and father-child contact in other fatherhood forms known. Lastly, is to ascertain that creating a new intact family has an ability to somewhat safeguard the undesirable impacts of the past history of a family which broke due to divorce.
Literature review
1. Emotional pathways impacting paternal care
The various studies across west London have shown discrepancies regarding the mental impacts of having children, nonetheless, many theories and scholarly articles foreseeing the emotional benefits of possessing children. According to the assumption that having children being the cause of temporary or circumstantial strains, it is disputed in that having children is seen to be of more significance in the society. These are seen where the presence of children in the family is perceived as fulfilling human’s basic mental requirements, for instance, the urge for affiliation, positive self-image and catering for feelings of happiness and good emotions.
Basing on the arguments by Lyubomirsky S (2010, p.5), achieving personal psychologic needs is very important in the physical and emotional well-being of every being thus when this fulfilment is not achieved, it can lead to psychopathology and distress. Additionally, good family interactions can also be a channel to social integration and support. Presence of children in a family is seen to prevent any form of loneliness and contributes a bigger role in supporting their parents at older ages. Furthermore , according to Kendig H (2007, p.28) on the role accumulation hypothesis , it states that occupying multiple social has the ability to foster well-being, these means that the duty of a father may significantly impact a man’s well-being irrespective of other roles such the marital responsibilities, therefore, establishing a relationship with children is thought to be the origin of paternal well-being, .There is goodness in compensating lack of satisfaction in other fundamental social mandates.
Nonetheless, the aspect of fatherhood and the associated differing role experiences determines if these advantageous impacts prevail in the long run. Additionally, basing on the role occupancy, fatherhood affects men mainly when its roles are evidently occupied. Arguing from Eggebeen DJ et al perspective, co-residency with small children need to be associated with the weighty cost and benefits of fatherhood, while non-custodial fathers should have been affected by their fatherhood status to a lesser extent. Furthermore, it is perceived that the active type of fatherhood is linked with benefits attached from strong interaction with children. The other side speaks truly in that, restricted fathers, for instance, those in families with fewer ties may lead to feelings of failure, guilt and role strain (Nelson, 2014, p.3)
2. The aspect of paternal well-being in the different forms of fatherhood
In the modern western life, contemporary parenting by a father is not only confined to genetic linkage between the fathers and his children. Because of social life leading to breaking of various families, quite number of men take up the role of children from the past relationships. Additionally, in a case of an in step, foster or fatherhood arising from the adoption of children, men are found to take part even though there is no form of genetic linkage. It is also confirmed that offspring from more complex family depicts greater vulnerability to impaired mental fitness and physical health as compared to those who are from stable backgrounds and born of two biological parents. (PR., 2010)
There exists much difference in fatherhood forms, facts state that single fathers with children at homestead tend to have a lesser mental well-being than those married or living together. Additionally, single fathers report more self-perceived stress and deprive traits, higher psychiatric illness and reduced living satisfaction when a comparison is made with the stable fathers in other families. Hence the association of singlehood with less well-being in men and women when likened to a family with a steady relationship, the absence of stable partnership seems to be of the great burden for fathers with children at home (Muhammad, 2010, p.315).
Furthermore, fathers who live without their small children are thought to experience less psychological well-being than men fathers with small children living together in the same house. The margins depicted are seen to emanate from partnership status. Other studies show that the history of men regarding the partnership, not a must to be within the fatherhood context is decisive for their mental well-being but also the negative impact of relations ending on well-being, Additionally, divorce has impacts on the quality of child to father relations in an instance of non-residency. Moreover, it is known that when a non-resident child is given to birth, he/she is associated with high feelings of depression while the birth of a resident child shows contrary. Nevertheless, Other factors are seen to mediate the increased levels of distress in separated, or non-resident fathers which results from the increased parental pressure on responsibility. (Umberson, 1993, p. 18)
The study wishes to expand on the existing reports where currently, there is less research conducted to investigate fathers in step-or blended family ties. Basing argument from the above, some of the surveys say that partnered fathers staying in stepfamilies having or not having extra genetic offspring, recorded increased depression symptoms prior and following the birth of next child when equated to fathers having traditional models. However, the study wishes to adjust the control on the confounders, so as to see if there is defence between the fathers of stepchildren at home and fathers staying with children either associated genetically or due to adoption in accordance to social depression, substance use and living fulfilment. (Dykstra PA, 2009, p.29)
From the above, there are supporting facts that point to demerits regarding the well-being of fathers in families living together in the western world when likened to traditional-two-parent families with biological co-resident children. Additionally, non-resident or single fathers are shown to depict harmful impacts for fathers, and in the hand, the blended family homesteads are shown to be unfavourable.
Nevertheless social, demographic, and partnership factors which are the reasons for the above adverse impacts are yet to be established by the forthcoming study. Additionally, the study also seeks to make it clear the existing confounding, moderation or facilitating differences, for instance, the new partnership of fatherhood, several-partner fertility, the traits of children or record of direct care on children apart from the status of co-residency. Furthermore, due to the insufficient information on highlighting the difference between the known types of fatherhood. A good example is a study which study focuses only father’s present homestead situation while paying less attention to his previous partnership and fertility history. Furthermore, the research wishes to establish the impacts of various family types to the father’s well-being in a broader perspective.
In conclusion, even if the aspects only lie on whether fatherhood is of significance or much of burden for a father, there is still insufficient knowledge on the paternal mental well-being in the various types of fatherhood in the entire time of fatherhood. Furthermore, there are three factors which may contribute to the involvement of fathers in the act of fatherhood. For instance, first, marital status whereby men are seen to contribute less paternal care when they are not married to mother of his children. A clear indication is seen when some men retreat from the issues of children after separation secondly, is the confidence of paternity whereby men who are confident about their fatherhood role are correct, whereas the one who doubts their children shows less fatherhood and lastly is the hormones in that not only mothers experienced hormonal variations during parenthood but also men do experience (Dewa, 2013, p.45)
Proposed methods of data collection
The survey will employ the use of both the qualitative and quantitative data collection methods across the said region. To begin with is the quantitative data collection approach
1. Clinical trials.
The survey will target health facilities to collect data on the paternity cases which arises on the legality of a father owning a child by biological means. Existing data on DNA paternity test will be used to ascertain the number of subjects (fathers) who are related biologically to their children at their homestead.
2. Questionnaires.
Open and closed-ended questions are going to be given to the subjects for them to fill in areas of marital status, number of children and the past family relationship. This will tend to save on time since a multiple of questionnaires can be supplied at a small period and get filled within a short period of time. Additionally, since the west has developed technologically, web-based questionnaires serves best since the subject only click on the address and get redirect to the questions. This web questionnaire is highly secured to ensure privacy and integrity of data collection process.
3. Conducting interviews.
There are a number of ways to carry out the interviews. First is the face-face conversation where the subjects will answer questions verbally, secondly, telephone interview will best suit subjects who may be situated in distant areas. This kind of data collection will provide detailed and precise primary data that is accompanied with emotional reactions on the interview questions.
4. Observation method.
Data on the psychologic behaviours of the subjects can be accomplished by observing the way fathers interact with their children for example visiting the recreational facilities to observe the extent of father’s involvement in the affairs of their children. The observation process can be accomplished autonomously to avoid notifying the respective fathers that they are being observed. Doing the observation autonomously and anonymously will provide unique insight into the orientations of fathers amidst their children for respective decisions to be made.
Research timetable
Routine activity
Length of time
Receiving clearance from the supervisor to proceed
1 day
Adapting research objectives
2 days
Designing research instruments
1 week
Recruitment of interviewers
2 weeks
Designing questionnaires
2 days
Training interviews on how to respond to questions
1 week
Collecting data
2-4 days per geographic location
Transcribing the recordings
4 days
Preliminary analysis in field
2 days
Writing of draft
3 days
Competing final draft on main chapters
2days
Preparation for presentation
1days
Completion of analysis
1 week
Final drafting of report
1 week
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