A new handbook by Edinburgh University social work lecturer Gary Clapton challenges workers in social and health care to rethink their approach to fathers.
The majority of fathers, father-substitutes, and father figures wish to do well by their children. However, as a number of high profile cases testify, fathers often feel that they receive poor treatment at the hands of the social care system.
In Scotland, recent research points to the value of involved parenting by fathers, while government policy initiatives, such as the Gender Equality Duty and the National Parenting Strategy, have attempted to stress the importance of involving fathers in their child care.
This book proposes a father-sensitive, father-aware social work practice. It suggests that any social care system that simply adopts a default position that child care is the responsibility of women alone is hampered by its failure to acknowledge the positive potential of fathers.
The arguments advanced in the book concentrate on children and family practice, but do not neglect the importance of social work and fatherhood with vulnerable adults, as well as those within the criminal justice system.
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