Empowerment and equality in parental support for foreign-born fathers : A qualitative study

Parental support programs aimed at foreign-born parents have increased in interest in Swedish municipalities. Research on these types of parental support programs is therefore important in order to ensure that the support given have the desired effects and that the programs have value for the individuals to whom the support is directed. The aim of this thesis was to identify the goals of a parental support program offered to foreign-born fathers as well as to investigate and analyse how participants in the parental support program experience and understand their participation in the program in relation to these goals. The empirical material was collected through qualitative textual analysis of background documents to the parental support program as well as through qualitative interviews with three participants in the program. The empirical material was analysed through theories of empowerment and gender. The result showed both similarities and differences between the participants experiences of the parental support program and the background documents that formed the basis of the program. The main result showed that the goal of the parental support was to fundamentally change the fathers’ way of being, by promoting gender equality and by inspiring fathers to take greater responsibility for their children. However, the interviewed fathers held a pragmatic attitude towards the parental support program, by using the information as a tool to maneuver in Swedish society without necessarily having to fundamentally change