10. Staffing: Knowledge, skills, values and attitudes
Your organisation’s capacity to target father-inclusive services is dependent on the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes of its staff.
Knowledge
Critical knowledge (required to make services accessible and responsive to the needs of fathers) includes an understanding of:
- fathers and stepfathers, drawn from experience with a wide range of people from different socio-economic backgrounds
- the similarities and differences in the experiences that a range of people face
- issues faced by fathers, parents, children and families
- the importance of fathers in children’s lives
- the range of fathering roles (both conceptually and in practice)
- the importance of a ‘team’ approach to parenting and the benefits for children
- the potential positive impact on couple relationships and the wellbeing of mothers and fathers when fathers are included in practice
- child development (including physical, emotional, psychological, social and cognitive developmental needs), and how it is impacted by fathers, mothers and family life
- a range of theoretical frameworks to understand men’s roles, and their inherent assumptions, strengths and weaknesses
- the difficulties experienced by children living with step parents and in step families
- other local services that work with fathers.
It is also imperative to acknowledge that parenting is a practice rather than a biological function, and that fathers may be:
- birth fathers
- step fathers
- foster fathers
- non-biological fathers
- uncles
- grandfathers
- carers
- resident or non-resident fathers.
Skills
Critical skills (required to make services accessible and responsive to the needs of fathers) includes the ability to:
- critically reflect on your own practice
- critically examine your organisation’s structures and processes to identify areas where a more father-inclusive approach can be adopted
- promote father-inclusive practice within your own and other agencies
- promote the benefits of a ‘team’ approach to parenting within your own and other agencies
- model effective, respectful and inclusive communication (including verbal and non-verbal communication, listening, empathic responding, non-judgemental paraphrasing, summarising, questioning, effective conflict resolution, assertiveness, use of humour, tact and sensitivity) when working with fathers
- value and work inclusively with the client whilst considering the full range of possible influences in their lives (including personality, culture, language, religion, age, gender, family of origin, education levels, learning abilities, economic situation, social context, health, disabilities and related issues) and the impact of how these interrelate.
Values
Values underlie the ability to apply the required knowledge and skills when working with fathers. Consider how values operate in your practice and organisation. Do you and your organisation:
- have a genuine and expressed belief in the value and importance of;
- the role of fathers and mothers in their children’s lives
- a team approach to parenting
- recognise the responsibility of mothers and fathers to adopt child focussed viewpoints
- value the experience, skills and knowledge fathers bring to fathering
- reflect on how language and other communication media can be (more) inclusive of fathers
- recognise the importance of establishing credibility as a reliable source of information regarding children.
Attitudes
At an individual level, a practitioner’s experience with, and assumptions about, men and fathers will impact on their capacity to work with them from a strengths based perspective. Having a healthy view of the capabilities of men to build relationships is fundamental. Recognising that men have the ability to:
- commit to the physical and ongoing support that a father provides and their involvement with their children throughout their lives
- make day to day decisions that meet the needs of their children
- work as an active and effective member of a ‘parenting team’
- care about and attend to the important transitions in a child’s life, and work to provide the optimal conditions to maximise their growth
- create resources for material wellbeing and resolve problems in ways that promote emotional wellbeing
- form lasting and healthy attachments with their children and learn to adapt and change as their children grow
- relate with children by sharing meaningfully with them, both verbally and non-verbally.
It is quite important for practitioners in any service to recognise that assumptions and prejudices they may hold towards any groups or individuals, may be unhelpful in their professional role of working with parents and families. It is important for us all to recognise that our world is full of an array of cultural and sub-cultural groups that hold shared values, beliefs and attitudes that are not universal. These values, beliefs and attitudes are more difficult to recognise within ourselves and, left unchecked, can ultimately get in the way of achieving the most effective outcome with and for the parent.
The practitioner must always work towards coming to a better understanding of the parents’ worldview and therefore the potential for a more effective outcome. In doing this, the worker is challenged professionally to be aware of their own prejudices and biases and ensure they do not get in the way of what it may be that a client needs or wants to do.