Young people's reproductions of the ‘father as provider’ discourse: intersections of race,class, culture and gender within a liberal democracy

ABSTRACT

Despite a plurality of paternal forms available to men, certain enactments of fathering remain immobile. In South Africa the ‘father as provider’ discourse, which establishes the legitimate father as one who provides financially for his family, continues to be regarded as the primary mark of a good father. Using photo-elicitation interviews to interrogate the persistence of this discourse, this paper examines how adolescents from two low-resourced South African communities construct fathering. Using a critical intersectional discursive framework, the analysis focuses on how gender, race, class and culture are implicated in the reproduction of the ‘father as provider’ discourse. Participants’ constructions suggest that the father’s duty to provide is intensified within marginalised contexts. Central to participants’ reproductions of the ‘father as provider’ discourse was a neoliberal conception of ‘freedom of choice’. The paper concludes that South Africa’s post-apartheid reliance on discourses around liberal democracy has cast the low-income father’s ability to fulfil the provider role as a conscious choice. While the father is made responsible for his failure to provide, broader structural oppressions are in turn rendered largely invisible by such discourse.     

Elderly Volunteering and Well-Being: A Cross-European Comparison Based on SHARE Data

This paper, based on Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) data, analyzes the relation between volunteering and well-being among 30,023 Europeans aged 50 and above in 12 countries. There is an overall positive correlation between volunteering and perceived health, life satisfaction, and self-life expectancy and a negative correlation to depression. However, in some countries the correlation is much stronger than in others.     

In search of a decolonised military: Māori cultural learning experiences in the New Zealand Defence Force

Māori people contribute significantly to the New Zealand Defence Force. Māori indigenous knowledge, however, did not feature in military curricula until recently. It was a common expectation that Māori personnel would conform to the dominant Western worldview, which often meant sacrificing indigenous identity. The introduction of the Service bicultural policies has paved the way for significant change in military education practices in the twenty-first century. This paper showcases the Māori cultural learning experiences of 34 members from the New Zealand Defence Force as they reflect on their experiences within the contemporary context of a military education and training environment, and the broader context of a decolonising society. This study argues that the inclusion of indigenous knowledge systems in military curricula improves the learning experiences of all members. Themes relating to individual development and improved organisational morale emerged that were found to be directly or indirectly attributed to the inclusion of Māori cultural training. The study is grounded in a multicultural military organisation, operating within a nation seeking to establish a bicultural co-equal partnership between Māori, the tangata whenua, original inhabitants, and non-Māori, the kaiwhakanoho whenua, or settler population, of New Zealand.     

Is Domestic Abuse an Adult Social Work Issue?

Within a global profession with a stated definition that includes ‘promoting social change and development, social cohesion and the empowerment and liberation of people’ (online), it would be expected that the issue of domestic abuse would be integral to the training and role of all social workers. This article reports on research, which highlighted both a lack of understanding of the role of adult social worker within cases of domestic abuse and also a desire for further training around the issue. However, this article sets out how the current UK (in particular, English) context of social work marginalises the issue of domestic abuse within practice with adults. This marginalisation has been achieved through the construction of domestic abuse as a children and families issue and limited duties, powers and resources within statutory work to support victims/survivors in their own right, rather than as ‘failing’ parents. However, the article argues that the role of social work education should be wider than teaching to the current policy or procedures and instead encourage a wider appreciation of the social, historical and political context. The article concludes with tentative suggestions for how domestic abuse could be considered within the social work curriculum for adult practitioners. This is in acknowledgement that social workers can be well positioned for the detection, investigation and support of those experiencing abuse.     

Direct Payments and Disabled People in the UK: Supply, Demand and Devolution

Direct payments have brought new opportunities for self-determinationand independent living to disabled people in the UK, featuringprominently in government strategy and the 2006 White Paper,‘Our Health, Our Care, Our Say’. However, ten yearsafter direct payments legislation, take-up remains low and implementationvaries greatly. Rates of take-up in England remain more thandouble those in other parts of the UK, raising questions aboutdevolution and equity. This paper presents data from a nationalstudy to examine some of the mechanisms underlying uneven outcomesfor disabled people in different parts of the United Kingdom,with particular reference to the politics of devolved governance.The analysis focuses on scope for interpretations of policy;resources for information and training; the impact of mandatoryduties and targets; extensions to new user groups; and the roleof support organizations and disability activism. The evidencesuggests that local variations have been produced not only by‘local’ factors, but also by different opportunitystructures for policy development in England, Scotland, Walesand Northern Ireland. This raises questions about the impactof devolution on equity and opportunity for disabled peoplein the UK.     

Endangered Children: Experiencing and Surviving the State as Failed Parent and Grandparent

The state removes children from ‘failed’ parentsto give them a better experience of parenting. This articleexamines the role that the state plays as parent to young mothersin care and grandparent to their children, drawing on a small-scalestudy undertaken in western Canada using grounded theory methodology.The findings were bleak: the state as parent and grandparentalso fails these children. We consider why this is the caseand make suggestions for ways forward by critiquing the ideologyof familialism that underpins the state’s punitive approachto these young mothers and their children. We also call forpolicies and a practice that enable practitioners to addressstructural inequalities such as poverty and racism alongsidethe capacity to respond to the personal needs of the young womenand their children as young people with dignity and rights.