<p>Papparollen har förändrats från att vara familjeförsörjare till mer aktivt deltagande i familjelivet, men det finns mer att göra för att uppnå en jämställd föräldraledighet. Tidigare forskning är grundade på pappors erfarenhet och tankar om den planerade föräldraledigheten. <strong>Syfte: </strong>Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka blivande förstagångspappors tankar om föräldraledighet, rollen som pappa och föräldrautbildning. <strong>Metod: </strong>Åtta blivande förstagångspappor intervjuades. Samtliga intervjuer spelades in digitalt, transkriberades och analyserades genom med hjälp av innehållsanalys. <strong>Resultat: </strong>Av intervjuerna framkom fyra kategorier; Förutsättningar att ta föräldraledighet, Jämställt föräldraskap, att vara pappa och förälder samt trygghet inför förlossningen. Samtliga pappor planerade att ta ut föräldraledighet men det var oklart för en del när det skulle ske. Sju av papporna nämner att amningen är den viktigaste faktorn till att mamman tar ut föräldraledighet under första tiden.  Utav åtta intervjuade pappor svarade fem att ekonomin var en avgörande faktor som föräldrarna tog hänsyn till när de planerade fördelningen av föräldraledigheten.  Det fanns en stor ambivalens till huruvida papporna ansåg att låsta månader var ett bra tillvägagångssätt för att uppnå en mer jämställd fördelning av föräldraledigheten. Papporna kunde se både negativa och positiva konsekvenser av de låsta månaderna. Den generella åsikten bland papporna var dock att de ville engagera sig i sina barn även om de inte har möjlighet att vara föräldralediga. <strong>Slutsats: </strong>Papporna vill ta föräldraledighet men de största hindren är den ekonomiska situationen och amningen som prioriteras under första tiden. Genom föräldraledigheten ansåg papporna att de kan knyta an till sina barn.</p> / <p><strong></strong>The father role has changed from being a breadwinner to taking a more active part in the family life, but there is still more to do before an equal parental leave is reached. Recent studies are based on fathers’ experiences and thoughts of the planned paternal leave. <strong>Objective: </strong>The aim of this study is to research soon-to-be fathers’ thoughts about the forthcoming parental leave, the father role and the parental education. <strong>Method:</strong> Eight soon-to-be fathers were interviewed. All interviews was digitally recorded, transcribed and analyzed with the help of content analysis. <strong>Results:</strong> From the interviews four different categories was found; Conditions to take parental leave, equal parenting, to be a father and a parent and feeling secure about the birth giving. All the interviewed fathers showed a desire to take parental leave but it was uncertain when they were going to do so. Seven of them refer to breastfeeding as the most important factor why the mother take parental leave in the beginning. Of eight interviewed fathers five of them responded that the negative change in their economy was a major factor in the distribution of the parental leave between the mother and father. There was a big ambivalence whether the fixed months is a good approach to reach a more equal distribution of the parental leave. The fathers saw both negative and positive consequences of the fixed months. However, the general opinion among the fathers was that they wanted to commit to their children, even if they were not able to take parental leave. <strong>Conclusion:</strong> Fathers wants to take parental leave, but the biggest obstacle is their economy and because the child was being breastfeed during the first period of time after birth. The fathers believed that through parental leave they would be able to connect to their children.</p>

The two studies of this dissertation examined mothers' perspectives of nonresident fathers' involvement in low-income families. The overall goal of these studies was to gain a more comprehensive understanding of nonresident fathers' involvement and its effect on family well-being. In the first study I applied a relatively new methodology, zero-inflated negative binomial regression, to overcome the methodological shortcomings of previous studies. The models (N=1215) examined what factors predicted two aspects, presence and level, of father-child contact and paternal engagement. Different factors were found to influence presence of father-child contact and frequency of contact. Similarly, different factors predicted presence of paternal engagement and level of engagement. Thus, a nonresident father's decision to be involved in his child's life may be a fundamentally different decision than how much he is involved. In addition, parents' positive relationship--romantic relationship and higher quality of relationship--was found to be the major predictor influencing all outcome variables. It appears that a positive co-parental relationship is central to nonresident father involvement. In my second study, I qualitatively examined rural mothers' perceptions of nonresident fathers' involvement (N=83). Specifically, I investigated whether mothers are really "gatekeeping" the father involvement, as suggested by previous research. There was no simple yes/no answer to this question, rather, results suggested that whether a mother acts as a gatekeeper of her children depends on her unique circumstances. Mothers, by at large, wanted the nonresident fathers to be involved in their children's lives and to perform responsible fathering, but mothers' expectations of the fathers' roles may be narrowly defined and, therefore, easily violated. Some mothers did intentionally refuse or limit father-child contact in cases where they believed that father involvement would threaten the safety of their children. In these cases, "gatekeeping" behavior can be viewed as one survival strategy for the mothers. The two studies presented here collectively demonstrate the complexity of non-resident father's involvement and provide insight that will be useful for policy targeted to low-income families. / Graduation date: 2005

Fathers play a critical role in child development and well-being, yet research on how men view their roles as fathers and their influence on their children's health is limited. The present study sought to answer the following questions: 1) What are men's expectations regarding fatherhood? 2) How have these expectations changed after becoming fathers? 3) What factors or role models shape and influence these expectations? and, 4) How do fathers perceive their impact on the health and well-being of their children? Data were collected via in-depth interviews with 20 fathers of pre-school aged children residing in two Oregon communities. Results suggest that role models, work schedule, mothers' roles, and their self-identity as fathers influenced participants' views of themselves as fathers and consequently their involvement in their children's lives. Fathers' sense of responsibility, either financial or emotional or both, appeared to heavily impact the ways they chose to engage with their children. While meeting physical needs of food, clothing, and shelter were discussed, for these fathers the primary indicator of children's health was happiness. They considered themselves responsible for creating a happy home environment in which to nurture their children's mental and emotional health. All the fathers engaged in caring for their children when they were sick, including sharing specific tasks such as doctors' visits, dispensing medicine, and staying at home with the children. Findings suggest that fathers view themselves as playing an important role in promoting and protecting the health of their children. / Graduation date: 2005

Idag erbjuds familjer som fått ett prematurfött barn att gå hem med neonatal hemsjukvårddetta gör att vårdtiden på sjukhuset blir kortare och familjen får komma hem och vårdabarnet i hemmet. Fler sjukhus i Sverige ansluter sig till den neonatala hemsjukvården ochkan i och med det erbjuda föräldrarna denna form av vård. Faderskapet har utvecklats frånatt ha haft rollen som familjeförsörjare till att vara mer aktiv i föräldraskapet. Papporna tarmer plats i familjen. Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva pappors upplevelser avneonatal hemsjukvård. Som datainsamlingsmetod utfördes intervjuer. För att genomförastudien och bearbeta materialet, användes en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultatetutmynnade i två teman, en tillfredsställelse i att få komma hem och en känsla av att bliomhändertagen av vårdpersonalen. Det första temat innebar att papporna upplevdefrihetskänsla, enkelhelhet och att det var ett naturligt steg. Det andra temat innebar attpapporna upplevde tillmötesgående vårdpersonal, lättillgängligheten och attvårdpersonalen var återkommande i hemmet. En av studiens konklusioner var att pappornaupplevde den neonatala hemsjukvården som en positiv upplevelse. Livet blev enklare ochsmidigare. I en eventuell kommande studie skulle det vara intressant att studera hurvårdpersonalen upplever stödet till papporna i den neonatala hemsjukvården. / Families of today who have a child born prematurely often go home from the hospital withneonatal homecare, this implies a reduced duration in the hospital. The parents can takecare of their child at home and they can stay in an familiar environment. Several hospitalsin Sweden can offer families neonatal homecare. The fatherhood has developed from beingan economic family support to a father who now is more active in parenting and take moreresponsibility in the family. The purpose with this study was to describe father’sexperiences of neonatal homecare. Interviews were performed with seven fathers. and thecontent of the interviews were analysed with a qualitative method. The result concludedtwo themes, one was the satisfaction of coming home and the other one was the feeling ofbeen taken care of by the staff. The first theme involved feelings of freedom, simplicityand a natural step. The second theme involved accommodating staff, easily accessible andreturned in the home. The fathers experienced the neonatal homecare very positive. Thelife became easier and more convenient. A future study focusing on how the staff workingwith neonatal homecare experience given support to fathers could give importantknowledge to improve the support of fathers.

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva hur pappor upplever ett akut kejsarsnitt. Metod: Deskriptiv studie med kvalitativ design. Semi-strukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med tio pappor som varit med om ett akut kejsarsnitt.   Resultat: I studien framkom positiva upplevelser av akut kejsarsnitt så som ett bra bemötande av personalen och en känsla av att bli omhändertagen. Personalen uppfattades som proffsiga, trevliga och snälla. Det var framförallt efter det akuta kejsarsnittet som pappor upplevde en delaktighet då de själva fick ta hand om barnet. De såg då sin roll som betydelsefull. Pappans upplevelser av det akuta kejsarsnittet kan också vara kaotisk och traumatisk. Det fanns en önskan om psykologiskt stöd efter det akuta kejsarsnittet. Pappor upplevde att de inte kunde hjälpa till med så mycket praktiskt under själva kejsarsnittet utan de upplevde mer att de var ett mentalt stöd för mamman. Det fanns upplevelser av bristande information, både före, under och efter det akuta kejsarsnittet. Slutsats: Då det framkom i studien att det fanns en önskan om psykologiskt stöd bör det införas rutiner för att fånga upp dessa pappor och en möjlighet att erbjuda dem hjälp. Vad gäller information bör riktlinjer utformas för att pappor ska känna att de är väl informerade genom hela förloppet, informationen bör individanpassas. En informationsbroschyr om akut kejsarsnitt kan utformas och finnas tillgänglig på förlossningsavdelningar som ett led i informationsgivning. Nyckelord: Pappa, akut kejsarsnitt, upplevelser.

This essay will show how conservatism and liberalism is established and maintained in American presidential rhetoric, by analyzing the speeches held by George W. Bush in 2000 and Barack Obama in 2008 at their respective party’s national convention, at the time when they accepted their party’s nomination for the presidency for the first time. By conducting an ideology analysis by examining the language used in the two speeches, and connect that to the metaphors of morality in George Lakoff’s (2002) theory of the Nation-as-Family, the essay will show examples of how the two presidential candidates establish themselves as bearers and protectors of their party’s ideological base and how this can be related to the view on moral in American politics. The Republican Party connects to conservative ideology and the Democratic Party to liberal ideology. The Nation-as-Family theory involves looking at the relationship between the government and its citizens as that between parents and their children. Connected to conservative ideology is the Strict Father who proclaims authority, obedience and character and connected to liberal ideology is the Nurturant Parent who proclaims nurturing, empathy and equal distribution of opportunities. Connected to Strict Father and Nurturant Parent there exists a number of metaphors of morality that helps organize the language being used. Although notions of the ‘wrong’ moralities appear in the ‘wrong’ speeches, the results from the analysis clearly indicates that the Nation-as-Family theory is highly valid in displaying the connections between political speeches and the ideological bases to which the speakers adhere.

These poems represent the vanishing world of the South and that tale is perpetuated by a series of fathers and sons which often act as the narrators. Each father passes his knowledge of language, hunting, lore, loss, and even sins onto the sons who repeat the tradition. The voice and age of the narrators evolves from the heavily dialectical to a more educated and contemplative voice as the thesis progresses.

The two principal elements comprising this thesis are 1) a description of the development of a theory concerning schizophrenic psychosis and 2) an attempt to develop a treatment strategy based on this theory. The theory was developed by Palle Villemoes on the basis of the French psychoanalyst Lacan's work and may be described as an ego-structuring psychotherapy with its foundation in the castration complex. The psychosis is seen as a consequence of the child's inability, for various reasons, to a apt itself to symbolic castration - i e disappointment and frustration over not constantly having its own way, and over being required to subordinate itself to universal principles and authorities. The psychotic person has not subordinated under symbolic is castration but continues to exist in the original symbiotic relation with the imagined pre-oedipal mother, When the pressures of the teenage and early adult years make themselves felt, such an ego-weak person is unable to withstand and deal with them and develops a psychotic relation to her/his surroundings, The- treatment strategy described in this thesis, was developed by the author and colleagues at the treatment centre Norrgården in Härnösand. It is a milieu therapyoriented treatment during which the patient optimally passes through three phases. During the first - narcissistic - phase the aim is that the patient's contact person develop such a relationship with her/him that "idolization" of the contact person occurs. This idolization is achieved by means of interest on the part of the contactperson, and a non-polarized attitude. The contact person shows interest in the patient and in her/his situation, life-story and interests. The non-polarized attitude means that little or no importance is attached to differences, particularly those due to gender and power position. The contact person avoids provoking the patient in areas about which she/he is sensitive. When a balanced, conflict-free relationship with the patient bas been achieved, treatment moves into a so- called working phase. Now the establishing of her/ his own history in the patient takes over from the idolization built up in the course of the close relationship. The patient is to become the subject of her/his own life-story, to achieve which patient and contact person go through the story together. If all goes well the patient passes through the castration complex and is able to find a realistic place for her himself in the story, the culture, and the society that has to be lived in with all its relations towards other people. The patient now begins to view her/himself, with both possibilities and limitations, more and more realistically. She/he also begins to show interest in the future and in plans for a life after treatment. In the final phase, progressively more responsibility for decisions is left to the patient. The aim of this phase of the treatment is to consolidate the narcissism of the patient's own ego. She/he must be released from the symbiotic dyad with the contact person who now leaves it to the patient to make choices and decisions and to be aware of the passage of time. The thesis discusses the development of the theory in a dialectic relation to the practical experiences of treatment work during the earliest years at Norrgården. A central place in the thesis is occupied by 11 case descriptions of the first patients who completed the treatment at Norrgården. / digitalisering@umu

This creative thesis illustrates how the writer initiated a ‘call-and-response’ dialogue as a healing strategy to heal her relationship with her non-abusive biological father after revealing to him that her stepfather had sexually abused her from ages 14 to 22. This memoir both contributes to the field of Women’s Studies and provides an example that other sexual abuse survivors can follow to heal their intimate relationships.

This study investigates whether the parent-adolescent relationship is related to the academic, social, and personal-emotional expectations of adjustment and actual adjustment to college during the transition to college. The mother-adolescent relationship was more consistently linked to college adjustment than the father-adolescent relationship both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, and students identified their parents and especially their mother amongst the first people who they go to for support. More African Americans than students from other ethnic backgrounds and more dormitory residents than commuters identified their mother as their first supportive figure, suggesting that the students’ living arrangements and their cultural backgrounds need to be taken under consideration when studying this transitional period.