Are Mothers Really "Gatekeepers" of Children?: Rural Mothers' Perceptions of Nonresident Fathers' Involvement in Low-Income Families

Autor/inn/en	Sano, Yoshie; Richards, Leslie N.; Zvonkovic, Anisa M.
Titel	Are Mothers Really "Gatekeepers" of Children?: Rural Mothers' Perceptions of Nonresident Fathers' Involvement in Low-Income Families
Quelle	In: Journal of Family Issues, 29 (2008) 12, S.1701-1723 (23 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0192-513X
DOI	10.1177/0192513X08321543
Schlagwörter	Mothers; Rural Areas; Economic Opportunities; Fathers; Low Income Groups; Interviews; Attitude Measures; Parent Participation; Parent Child Relationship; Parent Responsibility; Child Rearing; Parenting Skills + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Mother; Mutter; Rural area; Ländlicher Raum; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Elternmitwirkung; Parents-child relationship; Parent-child-relation; Parent-child relationship; Eltern-Kind-Beziehung; Kindererziehung
Abstract	Guided by symbolic interactionism, this qualitative study based on interviews with 83 rural mothers investigated mothers' perceptions of nonresident fathers' involvement in low-income families. Contrary to some fathers' claims that mothers "gatekeep" their access to children, the majority of mothers in our study wanted increased father involvement. The mothers' desire for active father-child interaction was not dampened by their frustration at the lack or irregularity of child support payment, which mothers tended to accept, given the lack of economic opportunities in rural communities. Despite their wishes to promote father-child contact, mothers also experienced frustration and distrust toward former partners when they perceived that the fathers were not fulfilling their expected parental roles. This study demonstrates that mothers' actions, which may be interpreted as gatekeeping by the fathers, are often not intended to discourage father involvement but rather are meant to negotiate more acceptable father behavior. (Contains 1 table.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10