Migrantenvaders in de Pedagogische Civil Society Een kwalitatief onderzoek naar de ervaringen van professionals over het bereiken en betrekken van migrantenvaders in cultuursensitieve opvoed initiatieven

Abstract

Purpose and aim. To examine the experiences of professionals working in cultural sensitive parental support programmes, focused on the reaching and involvement of migrant fathers. Methods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with professionals (N=6) from different municipalities in the Netherlands. The following initiatives took part in this research: Opvoeddebatten met migrantenvaders, Vadercentrum Adam, Weerbaar opvoeden, Wij ouders and expertisecentrum Pharos. Results. The experiences of professionals are divided in multiple categories; 1) keyfigures 2) cultural differences and 3) the role of migrantfathers in the upbringing of their children. Keyfigures seem to have a major role in reaching out to and motivating migrant fathers to take an active role in these initiatives, whilst they have a wide range of cultural knowledge of the fathers background to are able to meet the needs of these fathers. Finally, it seems that migrant fathers have a difficult time recognizing their role and their tasks as a father. The absence of their own father as a role model in their childhood could be a reason for this. Nevertheless, there seems to be a shift in the awareness of the role as a father in the second generation of migrant fathers. Conclusion. The current study shows that migrant fathers are already provided in a lot of their needs when it comes to parental support initiatives, but the use of keyfigures appear to be the major subject to be able to enlarge the involvement of and the reaching of these fathers.