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Fathers in child welfare: What do social work textbooks teach our students?

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  • Brewsaugh, Katrina
  • Strozier, Anne

Abstract

Research indicates that fathers in the child welfare system provide benefits to children's well-being and positive development, yet child welfare workers often do not engage fathers in services. Previous studies in Canada and the United Kingdom have found that child welfare training perpetuates negative perceptions of fathers. The current study conducted a content analysis of 217 vignettes in the texts used in required classes for students completing a concentration in child welfare classes in nine schools of social work at the public universities in a Southern U.S. state. Coding was completed independently by three researchers with an inter-rater reliability of 79%. Findings indicated that despite men being the perpetrator in 51% of vignettes, women were portrayed in just over half of vignettes (51%) as the sole caregiver responsible for ensuring the child's safety when the abuse occurred. The data were organized into five themes of how men and women were portrayed in the vignettes: Men as Threat, Men as No Different than Women, Men as Irrelevant, Men as Absent, and Women as Default Clients (the first four suggested by Scourfield (2001), and the last by the researchers). Results indicate that the bias against including fathers in child welfare services reported in other studies seems to start at the beginning of students' learning about child welfare work, in their required textbooks. Recommendations include updating child welfare textbooks to better address the role of men and fathers in children's lives, and increasing professors' and field instructors' awareness of the bias against men and fathers in child welfare.

Suggested Citation

  • Brewsaugh, Katrina & Strozier, Anne, 2016. "Fathers in child welfare: What do social work textbooks teach our students?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 34-41.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:60:y:2016:i:c:p:34-41
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.11.015
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Coakley, Tanya M., 2013. "The influence of father involvement on child welfare permanency outcomes: A secondary data analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 174-182.
    2. Lazar, Amnon & Sagi, Abraham & Fraser, Mark W., 1991. "Involving fathers in social services," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 287-300.
    3. Strega, Susan & Fleet, Claire & Brown, Leslie & Dominelli, Lena & Callahan, Marilyn & Walmsley, Christopher, 2008. "Connecting father absence and mother blame in child welfare policies and practice," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 705-716, July.
    4. Malm, Karin E. & Zielewski, Erica H., 2009. "Nonresident father support and reunification outcomes for children in foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(9), pages 1010-1018, September.
    5. Pennell, Joan & Rikard, R.V. & Sanders-Rice, Tia, 2014. "Family violence: Fathers assessing and managing their risk to children and women," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P1), pages 36-45.
    6. Zanoni, Lee & Warburton, Wayne & Bussey, Kay & McMaugh, Anne, 2013. "Fathers as ‘core business’ in child welfare practice and research: An interdisciplinary review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1055-1070.
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    Cited by:

    1. Molloy, Sonia & Pierro, Alexandra, 2020. "“It’s not girly”: Rural service providers’ perceptions of fathering, masculinities, and intersectionality," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    2. Crockett, Kaelie & Larsen Gibby, Ashley, 2021. "Child placement after parental incarceration: The roles of parents’ race and sex," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    3. Brewsaugh, Katrina & Masyn, Katherine E. & Salloum, Alison, 2018. "Child welfare workers' sexism and beliefs about father involvement," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 132-144.

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