Women's Emotion Work in the Family

Abstract

This qualitative study uses family observations and semi-structured interviews with 23 women to explore the relationship management work of building and maintaining father-child relationships. Five women indicated they did not engage in any efforts to enhance father-child relationships; 18 women reported doing some type of father-child relationship management work, although the extent of such efforts appeared to vary among these women. Several strategies to facilitate positive father-child involvement were identified: offering suggestions for joint father-child activities, relaying information about positive feelings, praising fathers for their involvement with children, organizing the family schedule/environment, and creating or maintaining positive images of fathers. When fathers and children were perceived to be unhappy with one another, various peace-keeping strategies designed to mediate angry/hurtful feelings were noted: anticipating and preventing unhappy feelings, separating fathers and children during disputes, and gathering and relaying information to encourage reconciliation.

How Childhood Circumstances Moderate the Long‐Term Impact of Divorce on Father–Child Relationships

“…Do investments in a child work differently for fathers who divorce and fathers who remain married? As long as fathers are married to the mother of their children, they benefit from the investments that the mother made (Seery & Crowley, 2000). Children often see their parents together, so the relationship of the adult child with the father will continue independently of how much fathers invested in the children at an earlier age.…”

“…Children often see their parents together, so the relationship of the adult child with the father will continue independently of how much fathers invested in the children at an earlier age. Mothers may also actively manage the father-child relationship, thus strengthening the father-child tie at an adult age (Seery & Crowley, 2000). Fathers who are divorced, in contrast, rely more strongly on their own investments (Kalmijn, 2007;Stephens, 1996).…”

Caught in the middle: Mothers in stepfamilies

“…For instance, in first married families, fathers' involvement with children is often contingent on the mothers' attitudes toward, expectations of, and support for him (DeLuccie, 1995). Seery and Crowley (2000) found that mothers engaged in relationship management between fathers and children because of a desire to improve the perceived emotional quality of their relationship. The mothers in our study also engaged in relationship management, but perceived child well-being was the key motive rather than concern for the quality of the stepparent/child relationship.…”

Using Identity Theory to Develop a Midrange Model of Parental Gatekeeping and Parenting Behavior

“…Most of the gatekeeping literature has focused on the negative influence of mothers' attitudes and behaviors on fathers' involvement, but some literature suggests that mothers serve as both gatekeepers and gateopeners. Consistent with research suggesting that women perform much of the marriage and emotion work in families (Erickson, 1993;Helms, Crouter, & McHale, 2003;Oliker, 1989), many mothers also report doing ''father work'' in the form of telling fathers information about their children, negotiating conflicts between fathers and children, and otherwise creating and promoting opportunities for fathers to be involved in their children's lives (Allen & Hawkins, 1999;Hamer, 1998;Seery & Crowley, 2001). Therefore, research tends to support the proposition that mothers, through their beliefs and behaviors regarding fathering, can influence paternal behavior in either positive or negative ways.…”