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This research intends to explore the complex dynamics between fatherhood and masculinities, and how these dynamics are shaped by different structural factors, which hinder the enactment of involved fatherhood in two generations of Bangladeshi fathers. It accumulates the voices and experiences of older and younger fathers living in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The findings demonstrate how the construction of fatherhood is influenced by Connell's (1987) "hegemonic masculinity" ideology, where specific male identities – protectors and providers – are valued, at the cost of not performing involved or compassionate fatherhood. In addition, this study illustrates how the social expectations create pressure for men to fit in the prescribed categories; although, an attention is given towards the fluidity of hegemonic masculinity, and the challenges it faces from both generations' fathers with the changing norms, and due to the practice of alternative masculinities – mostly by the young fathers. This research follows qualitative research methodology employing in-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) to have a deeper insight of what happens when structural factors, masculinity and fatherhood collide. The study concludes that both generations fathers are opening towards involved fatherhood, yet traditional fatherhood still dominates the domestic spheres.
Social Science Review, Vol. 39(3), Dec 2022 Page 113-131

As the first country in the world to do so, Sweden introduced paid parental leave for fathers in 197 4. This was a unique challenge to the traditional division of duties between men and women. Since then, a great many political reforms have been carried out to strengthen the participation of fathers in children's lives (Klinth 2008) and to create a gender-equal, dual-earner/dual-carer family in which both parents can combine work and parenthood (Berggren 2005; Forsberg 2009). Becoming a parent in Sweden today, one indifferent ways is met by these political aims. At the same time, socialization into parenthood also is pursued, for example, by the private consumer marker. Direct marketing to new parents begins at an early stage, advising them what to buy and how best to take care of their infant. Such advice can be seen as complementing or competing with the policies promoted by stare officials. This essay discusses the potential clash of values between the Swedish state and visual consumption in the medium of direct marketing.

To improve the quality and stability of couple and father-child relationships in fragile families, researchers are beginning to consider how to tailor existing couple-relationship and father-involvement interventions, which are now targeted on married couples, to the specific needs of unwed couples in fragile families. The goal, explain Philip Cowan, Carolyn Pape Cowan, and Virginia Knox, is to provide a more supportive developmental context for mothers, fathers, and, especially, the children in fragile families. The authors present a conceptual model to explain why couple-relationship and father-involvement interventions developed for middle- and low-income married couples might be expected to provide benefits for children of unmarried parents. Then they summarize the extensive research on existing couple-relationship and father-involvement interventions, noting that only a few of the programs for couples and a handful of fatherhood programs have been systematically evaluated. Of those that have been evaluated, few have included unmarried couples as participants, and none has investigated whether interventions may have different effects when unmarried fathers live with or apart from the child. Furthermore, although the funders and creators of most programs for couples or for fathers justify their offerings in terms of potential benefits for children, the authors note that the programs rarely assess child outcomes systematically. Next, the authors consider whether interventions for working-class or middle-class fathers or couples that have shown benefits for family members and their relationships might be helpful to fragile families, in which the parents are not married at the time of their child's birth. Because evidence suggests that couple-oriented programs also have a positive effect on father involvement, the authors recommend integrating couple and fatherhood interventions to increase their power to reduce the risks and enhance the protective factors for children's development and well-being. The authors emphasize the need for more research on program development to understand the most effective ways to strengthen co-parenting by couples who are the biological parents of a child but who have relatively tenuous, or already dissolved, relationships with one another. In closing, the authors summarize how far the family-strengthening field has come and offer suggestions for where it might go from here to be helpful to fragile families.

This paper analyses how men who were delinquent as adolescents experience themselves as fathers. The men who took part in a longitudinal study, all in their 40s, had severe adjustment problems as teenagers, and thus have a past that causes uncertainty about their parenting abilities in the present. The paper analyses the men's affective investments in their ways of being fathers. Four analytical categories that address the men's fathering experiences were identified as significant in the interviews. First unsettling relations and distance from their own children, which for many of the men appeared as a recurring pattern that resembled the relationships they had with their own parents. Second, several men emphasised capacities such as personal traits or strength that made them able to make a break with the past. Third, the importance of support from others was also recognised, particularly being able to share parenthood with the children's mother and for some, receiving help from child welfare services. Fourth, a key finding is that all the men, independent of whether they live with their children or not, experience a fragile point of balance, that is, incidents such as a relapse into drug abuse or a break in their relationship with the other parent strongly affect their relationships with their children. The difficulties these men experienced as youth intersect with their experiences of their own capacities as fathers in the present.