Social Worker in Honing Responsible Fathers - Essay Example

Bunting and McAuley wrote in their article the results of their research that, fathers often point to financial problems as the reason for their little or non-involvement in child-raising. Money is indeed an important matter to consider and even though modern families now accept mothers working and earning money for the family instead of fathers, the males often feel they are supposed to be the ones providing the needs of the family and not their spouses. Their research shows that there seem to be some misconceptions of some fathers about their responsibilities. In addition, these misconceptions are coupled with conflicts inside the family. Whether is a problem with communication with the wife or the wife’s parents, the problem poses as a barrier that distances the father from his child. Bunting and McAuley focused on familial relationships that could be deterrent or beneficial to fatherhood. If the wife’s parents can sometimes get in between father and child relationships, the husband’s parent can do otherwise. The article mentions that “Miller’s review of the literature on adolescent fathers indicate that as with teenage mothers, paternal grandparents, in particular grandmothers, are an important source of support for young men. This information could be valuable to social workers who can encourage paternal grandparents’ involvement in child-rearing if they can. This will not only boost the father’s morale but will also give him the time to work and the chance to see more of his child/children. With the increase of young men fathering children without even having any idea about their responsibilities, guidance should be available from social workers. For this reason, social workers should be well informed with similar information that will guide them on how to help the fathers.

Huebner et al. on the other hand gave the result of their interviews and surveys about the reactions of fathers towards social services. From the results, it is shown that 8.3% of the 185 participants gave positive reactions while 48.3% were neutral or have given suggestions and 43,3% gave disappointed comments. This reflects that services for fathers either are not performing well, are badly designed, or are simply available or known to a few. Some fathers shared their grievances and it is indeed heartbreaking that even in such matters, the problem of prejudice still exists. As one father said, “The system is biased against fathers and favors mothers”. This is in response to his claim that “the worker never calls me directly nor tells me what is happening in the case.” Another says that he pays child support and therefore should have the chance to be a father. Knowing about these, it should be noted well by social workers to set aside perceiving fathers collectively as bad or unable to competently perform their duties to children as their mothers can. This writer agrees with the idea that mediators should be trained to work with the parents to resolve their differences and not make the situation worse, to guide them in focusing on the needs of their children instead.