Abstract: Drawing on community-based research, this article explores how men from refugee backgrounds ‘do’ family and fathering in the Aotearoa/New Zealand context. Using Palkovitz and Hull’s (2018) ‘resource theory of fathering’ as a framework, it examines the individual, interpersonal and contextual resources that shape their experiences of family and fathering. In particular, the men’s narratives illustrate that shifting gender identities and power dynamics within family relationships, as well as reduced community involvement, present significant obstacles to traditional fathering practices. Yet participants also spoke of an attitudinal acceptance of shifts in the gendered division of labour that enabled them to more easily reorient themselves to the social constructions of gender prominent in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The article gives voice to a relatively absent presence in refugee resettlement scholarship – the experiences of fathers – and documents the approaches they identify to better support positive resettlement outcomes and family wellbeing.
Read the full article: WSJNZ_34_1-2_Humpage_et_al_5-21.pdf