“It’s Good for the Kids”: Fathers Consider Risk and Protection in Their Own and Their Children’s Lives

Abstract

We conducted a qualitative inquiry to better understand how fathers of young children consider risk in their own life and in the lives of their 2- to 7-year-olds. Interview data were collected from 64 fathers from rural and urban Canada. Fathers’ discourse was considered in the context of masculine identities as well as the implications for father-focused health promotion and safety education. We found that most fathers considered risk taking to be an essential component of their own and their fathering identities. Some fathers held negative views about risk taking in their own and their children’s lives or were inconsistent in risk considerations for themselves compared to their children. For these fathers, identity construction was a somewhat fluid and contradictory process. Overall, we conclude that health promotion programs should support and bolster fathering identities and practices that involve engaging children in physical risk taking while employing appropriate safety strategies.

Keywords

gender and family qualitative child care family processes father–child relationship

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