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  • Title: Gender relations and conflicts in fathering.
    Author: Brown J.
    Journal: Coord Noteb; 1995; (16):21-5. PubMed ID: 12290120.
    Abstract:
    The Caribbean Child Development Centre (CCDC) sought data to support the development of ways to meet regional parenting education needs. When CCDC realized that data on the relationship of Caribbean men and the family were virtually nonexistent, it conducted a survey of 700 men in two urban and two rural communities and sponsored discussion groups composed of men and women from the same or adjacent communities. The specific goals were 1) to provide a sociohistorical perspective on the family roles of men in the region; 2) to describe current male attitudes and behaviors related to family life and childbearing; 3) to generate data using participatory research techniques; 4) to present the data in a form useful to a wide audience; and 5) to create research tools that could be applied elsewhere in the region. The study revealed that a man's family is defined differently at different points of his life and that the primary role of the man in a Jamaican family is that of provider. The primary role of a mother is seen as providing care of the children and the home. Despite the pervasive nature of these beliefs, socioeconomic change has made it difficult for men and women to fulfill their traditional roles. Thus, a man can choose to demonstrate manhood by being a progenitor, by acquiring a large number of women, by engaging in criminal or violent behavior, by migrating to seek work, or by nurturing his children and participating in domestic tasks. It was found that men contribute more to family life than stereotypes suggest but that male status is not enhanced by participating in domestic chores. Fatherhood is an important step toward maturity, but children born early in a man's life may be cut off from the man when the mother enters another relationship. As may be expected, poverty and economic deprivation affect child-rearing practices in a negative manner. Future research should be directed to how well children born in early relationships are reared by stepfathers. Ways must be found to support a redefinition of manhood that includes active fathering: nurturing, sharing domestic tasks, and providing financial support.
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