Exploring fathers' experiences of fatherhood through an attachment lens

This study interviewed fathers of young infants to explore their experiences and understandings of their parental roles; comparing these with observations of them interacting with their baby, using an attachment lens. Analysis of interviews revealed key themes about fathers' experiences of being parented and in their turn, parenting, which linked to social discourses around masculinity. An analysis using attachment discourse markers was also employed to reveal an indication of the fathers' preferred attachment strategies. The majority indicated a preferred dismissing strategy, connecting with a core theme from the analysis that 'reason and logic are better than emotion.' A CARE-Index analysis of the fathers' interaction with their babies showed that, despite fathers' strong intentions to parent differently, they tended to re-enact the behaviour of their own fathers.