How do marriage and family therapist view fathers as being the single primary caretakers

Abstract
Children in the 21st century have to confound with a fundamentally different cultural and social environment in the course of their growth and development—one of the most notable developments in the increase of single-father families. Single fathers are also, commonly, the legal guardians of their children. Various reasons lead to these situations. Some single parents may opt to be in such a state by choice. Others are forced into the situation by circumstances such as the loss of their partners or separation. It has also been observed that single parents commonly experience a range of challenges, including stress. Single parents face challenges that emanate from the sheer parenting responsibility. Other sources of stress could include but not limited to, financial obligations and coping with their situations. Children of single parents may find it hard to cope and maybe confused because the rules in one household may not be the same as the other between their parents. These situations arise when there is legal shared parenting responsibility. Single parents are also faced with challenges of finding romantic partners. The situation is worse when such parents have small children. Thoughts of loneliness and isolation are common in such situations. When it comes to the single-parent families with only the father to boot, there is a host of unique challenges. They often experience an overload of their role. They encounter isolation, grief, and even challenges relating to the noncustodial parent. The use of a brief therapy strategy design to the issues is demonstrated via multiple case presentations that show classic issues that single-parent families have to confound with. When the single father parent is also the caregiver, the challenge is aggravated.
Literature Review
Haire and McGeorge (2012) conducted a study that sought to examine the negative perceptions towards parents who have never been married, single fathers, and single mothers who are also custodial parents. They applied a feminist biased framework to establish the gender-driven differences manifest in such views. Seven hundred sixty-nine participants were involved in the study. They were randomly allocated questions to respond to, regarding single fathers and mothers. The study’s outcome indicated that the participants’ views regarding single mothers and fathers were influenced by the gender of the parent.
Further, the results showed that the negative traits attributed to single mothers were not a function of their role but were personal, while the attributes assigned to the single fathers were a function of their situation. Much research indicates that single mothers are more commonly vindicated compared to their single father counterparts. Further, single-parent families are generally viewed in a negative light compared to families that are raised by both biological parents. The latter parents are regarded as responsible, communicative, and supportive. Single parents who have been in a marriage setup are regarded in a better light than those who are purely single. It appears that the reasons for such perceptions are because parents who have been married before tend to align more to the predetermined modes of social structure.
Maier and McGeorge (2014) researched to establish the views of society on the strengths of single fathers and mothers who have never been married but have custodial rights to their children. The researches obtained qualitative feedback from 873 participants. The researchers made use of a feminist framework to establish perceptions. The results showed that the positive traits that the respondents assigned to the single mothers who had never been married had more to do with their gender as opposed to their status as single parents. The research suggested that the expectation of the respondents for single mothers was much higher than what they did for single fathers. Indeed, it was observed that single mothers were held to a much higher standard compared to single fathers. The research further indicated that the societal views about single fathers were driven more by the belief that a single father has risen to the challenge of parenting as a matter of choice. Single mothers are, on the other hand, perceived to be performing their parenting duties as a matter of obligation and necessity that arises from their earlier wrong decisions and wrong choices. They are also perceived to be incapable of sustaining relationships. The researchers established that most o the beliefs about single parent mothers are driven by the view that there is something innately wrong with the single mothers. Descriptions of single mothers by the respondents suggested that they were irresponsible, promiscuous, hapless, and insecure.
On the other hand, single fathers were thought to be victims of circumstances. They were thought to be in a difficult situation and had to grapple with many issues that weighed them down, including paying child support, identifying child care services, and having to balance dating with raising children. The findings have far-reaching implications of clinical nature for family therapy specialists.
According to Jones (1983), therapists rarely address the issue of planned termination. Considering the assumptions and the aims of several similar studies, the concept could as well be irrelevant. However, there are cases where it will be of great importance to have not only a clear picture of the circumstances that lead to planned termination but also the factors around the subjects, including the therapist, which can deter such termination. One such situation is when a female therapist has been assisting a family where the father is a single parent caretaker. The family will likely try to draw the therapist into the equation to fill the void left by the mother. On the other hand, the therapist may also find it hard to terminate because they assume that the family will not cope with her absence. Other similar circumstances are further described.
In a study conducted by Dejean, McGeorge, and Stone Carlston (2012), the researchers sought to establish the attitude variances towards custodial single-parent mothers and fathers who have never been married. The study used 1, 351 participants as their sample. The participants’ average age was 27.5 years. (SD=11.68). Each of the participants was assigned to a male vignette for stimulus and requested to fill a questionnaire. The outcome showed that single-parent mothers who had never been married were viewed in a negative light compared to their male counterparts in similar circumstances, about the ability to parent and personal attributes. These outcomes are similar to those established by Maier and McGeorge (2014).
The subjects in the study rated single mothers who had never been married as insecure, less responsible, less moral, reputable, and more. These were the findings, even though the only difference in the vignettes was the pronouns used. Nevertheless, single fathers represent a significantly growing fraction of single parents with unique challenges. Although they may differ in some ways with single mothers, there is no doubt that single fathers also need support extended to single mothers. Such support includes support from the other parent, if such a figure is still in the picture of the family, to raise children effectively as co-parents. If the mother is not in the picture, the father’s networks, including friends, church communities, and immediate relatives, should own up and step in. One of the reasons to urgently address the matter is that single fathers stand a higher chance of living in poverty compared to married families. Single fathers should also gain from government support. Single fathers, in conclusion, need more significant online community support and resources designated for support of single fathers, and not just to hinge on the ones already custom-made for single mothers.
Greif and colleagues (2007) tried to find out how fathers present themselves, and to know their concerns when they are mandated by the court to attend to parenting education programs. While parenting groups and programs seek to help fathers along with their children, drawing fathers into the program remains challenging to the facilitators of the programs. It was also informed by the fact that fathers are increasingly reported to be reluctant to join such programs, and even when they join, they are passive. They tend to blame the system and claim that they are not understood when it comes to raising their children, and daughters, specifically. They are said to play hardcore and are often complicated in dealing with the children’s mother. They are also said to have backlog influences of poor raising in preparation for child care and have no proper knowledge of how to care for children. Fathers are commonly referred by courts to attend the parent education programs when the judge feels that there are lapses in the level of parenting skills and education. It may also be on suspicion of abuse, neglect, violence towards a partner, or when a father wants to have more contact rights with his children. There is little information on how such fathers present in the programs ordered by the court. Fathers have been largely ignored in research relating to single father needs and strategies for intervention. Studies on how Fathers participate in similar but other types of programs show that men shy away from support, especially when the support is formal. Men trend to perceive social services as indifferent, hostile, and not worth being trusted by fathers.
References
DeJean, S. L., McGeorge, C. R., & Stone Carlson, T. (2012). Attitudes toward never-married single mothers and fathers: Does gender matter? Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 24(2), 121-138.
Greif, G. L., Finney, C., Greene-Joyner, R., Minor, S., & Stitt, S. (2007). Fathers who are court-mandated to attend parenting education groups at a child abuse prevention agency: Implications for family therapy. Family Therapy, 34(1), 13-26.
Haire, A. R., &McGeorge, C. R. (2012). Negative perceptions of never-married custodial single mothers and fathers: Applications of a gender analysis for family therapists. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 24(1), 24-51.
Jones, E. (1983). Leaving whom? Motherless families: problems of termination for the female family therapist. Journal of Family Therapy, 5(1), 11-22.
Maier, C. A., &McGeorge, C. R. (2014). Positive attributes of never-married single mothers and fathers: Why gender matters and applications for family therapists. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 26(3), 163-190.