Comment: Postmodern parenting — pointers for supporting contemporary parents
| Published date | 10 July 2008 |
| Date | 10 July 2008 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17466660200800024 |
| Pages | 30-31 |
| Author | Douglas Hooper,Christopher Clulow |
| Subject Matter | Education,Health & social care,Sociology |
30 Journal of Children’s Services
Volume 3 Issue 4 December 2008
© Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Ltd
1 Emeritus Professor,
University of
Bristol, UK
2 Senior Fellow,
Tavistock Centre
for Couple
Relationships, UK
children. A key to engaging fathers as
parents is to improve the quality of co-
parenting relationships.
4. Other family members (for example, step-
parents and grandparents) may act as
co-parents to a child’s biological parents,
contributing to the emotional as well as
economic security of the environment in which
they are brought up. Parenting support needs
to take account of the wide network of family
relationships that contributes directly and
indirectly to the well-being of children.
5. The pace of change in the 21st century
presents all parents with challenges for which
their own childhood will only partly have
prepared them. Effective parenting support
means making information and services
available to all parents and not just to those
who may be having problems.
6. Existing institutions within communities
can provide a non-stigmatised base from which
parenting support can be provided. Extending
the role of schools makes sense in terms of
increasing parenting education opportunities
for adults and learning opportunities for
children. There are also important health
dimensions to bringing up children, and the
same logic might be applied to make a case
for extending the roles of health centres and
health practitioners.
7. Sure Start1 embodies the important principles
of universality and accessibility that are
important for preventive services. However,
local Sure Start programmes and similar
services will need to take account of built-in
gender bias when trying to engage fathers
Introduction
Earlier versions of the articles in this edition by
Janet Walker, Philip Cowan and Carolyn Pape
Cowan were presented at a debate in 2007 about
parenting support stimulated by the government
policy document Every Parent Matters (DfES,
2007). The Centre for Social Policy at Dartington
hosted the debate (5–6 December 2007). This brief
article summarises the main points arising from
the discussion. At this meeting the Centre Fellows
(an interdisciplinary group of leading academics
and practitioners in the UK affiliated to the Centre)
and their guests were drawn from a wide range of
disciplines, including psychiatry, psychology, social
work, legal studies and social policy.
Main points
1. Research consistently demonstrates that it
is the quality of family relationships, rather
than the forms they take, that is significantly
related to child outcomes. This suggests that
improving the quality of relationships provides
a proper focus for parenting support.
2. For both intact and separated families, the
quality of the relationship between parents
affects their individual capacities as parents
and the emotional security of their children.
Reticence about supporting co-parenting
relationships (there is no mention of the adult
couple in Every Parent Matters) detracts from
the value of parenting support proposals
currently espoused by the UK government.
3. Involving fathers can improve the lives of
Comment: Postmodern
parenting – pointers
for supporting
contemporary parents
Douglas Hooper1 and Christopher Clulow2
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