Aktivt faderskaps influenser i familjen : En fallstudie om pappors erfarenheter och attityd till faderskap och pappaledighet

This essay has tried to find attitudes and experiences regarding involved fatherhood and parental leave. This has been accomplished through qualitative interviews with five fathers in Uppsala, Sweden. All the respondents were already on or were supposed to go on parental leave. In accordance with the aim of the study the interviews and the analysis proceeded from three topics: fatherhood and family situation; impacts from the daily environment; and effects based on their own fatherhood. These topics were constructed from the two theories that were used to frame the purpose of the study; the theories that were used were the modernistic gender contract (modernistiskt genuskontrakt) and hegemonic masculinity. The study mainly focused on finding what inspired the respondents to go on parental leave and how this differed between them. Apart from that, the study was supposed to find how and if the attitude of the respondents were affected by their local environment. Furthermore, the study intended to find how parental leave could change the attitudes of the respondents towards work versus family relations. The results of the qualitative interviews compared to the literature review showed that the respondents mainly chose to go on parental leave to strengthen the gender equality in the family and to build a stronger relationship between themselves and their children. The division of parental leave between the partners was mainly chosen due to practical reasons. Furthermore, the interviewed fathers got their largest influence from their own fathers and discussions within the family. Lastly, the parental leave gave the fathers a stronger connection to their children and a deeper understanding of having the primary responsibility for their children.