The Study Of Father Involvement In Parenting In The View Of Ecosystems Theory

Under the influence of traditional gender conception——"breadwinning men and homemaking women",fathers were accepted as long as they supported the family.They didn’t need share the responsibility of taking care of their children with their wife. With the change of modern family structure,the rising status of females and the improvement of family values,fathers’duties are redefined nowadays,they have been transformed from the provider role to the caregiver.Father’s active participation in child rearing is demonstrated to have important significance for the growth of children and their family.This article adopts Ecosystems Theory,which studies how father’s involvement in child rearing patterns are affected by social system.Through the analysis,several conclusions are drawn:Most fathers are actively involved in the daily life of the child care,and spend much time accompanying them and pay more attention to child’s behavior guidance;Specifically,the young,highly educated,and urban fathers are more likely to agree the meaning of parenting practices and internalize these values into actions.However,father’s involvement in parenting level is far lower than the mother.Influenced by the traditional gender stereotypes,most of the family parenting patterns present the phenomenon of "education by mom and father absence in child’s education", and the "parents parenting" is still the ideal model.The paper also finds that that the three levels of ecosystem factors have significant impact on father’s parenting behavior.Firstly,father’s education and income were positively correlated with the level of father’s involvement.The less affected by the traditional concept of father,the more likely to participate in child care. Secondly,the support of family members or friends have driven to father involved in parenting,which verified good family environment can make the father more actively in parenting.Thirdly,media publicity and appeals can provide experience and role models for fathers,and it is possible to make changes in the concept of father’s involvement.Lastly,the relationship between husband and wife has greatest influence on father involvement.Through continuous coordination and game in the parenting process,the power division among married couples presents the model of "mother is the major persons-in-charge of the parenting,and father plays the role of childcare assistant".Although mother is dominated in powers of discourse and policy-making at home,actually they take more tedious affairs than ever. This new pattern of the gender division of labor still reflects the phenomenon of "breadwinning men and homemaking women",furthermore, reinforces the gender inequality.