ABSTRACT
This observation may be true so far as it goes. It should, however, be added that the breadth of that bad press is narrow to the point of tunnel vision. The recent upsurge in interest in the father has focused almost exclusively on fathers with problems. The result is that this media attention has given rise to a perception of a ‘crisis of fatherhood’ (Gillis, 2000:225). Thus, the fathers who are departed, deviant, deadbeat or deprived of contact have been investigated ad infinitum (French, 1995:1; Marsiglio, 1995:4). But the father who does not demonstrate such unfortunate characteristics has attracted far less research interest or media attention. In the same way, considerable attention has been focused on the father and his role at the labour and birth (see Chapter 4). It needs to be noted, though, that other aspects of the child-bearing cycle have attracted little or no interest. In this chapter, therefore, I aim to address the research and other literature on the non-pathological aspects of fatherhood which are unconnected to the birth. The aim is to provide a general overview of fathering. This overview will serve as a foundation for the subsequent chapters on the more precise points in the man’s career in relation to childbearing. In the course of this overview, it is possible that the existence and nature of the ‘crisis of fatherhood’ may be illuminated.
