‘I think my son is a wonderful chap’: Working-class and middle-class fathers’ narratives of their son’s ADHD diagnosis and medication

Abstract

In the rich literature on ‘new fathers’ there is an emergent focus on the role of class in shaping fathering practices and identities. According to time-use measures, the new ‘hands-on-father’ involved in the daily activities of childcare (Brannen and Nielsen, 2006) is most evident among middle-class fathers (Sullivan, 2010). Indeed, this new father is subject to much critical scrutiny (Bekkengen, 2006; Johansson and Klinth, 2008). Yet, so far, the persistent emphasis on this specific configuration of emotionally involved fathering may have the unintended consequence of assigning working-class fathers the role of those lagging behind in a movement towards one particular form of emotional involvement (Plantin 2007; Farstad and Stefansen, 2015). An emergent focus on how various material and cultural life situations shape different configurations of fatherhood and emotional involvement offers a promising way out of this impasse (Brannen and Nielsen, 2006; Plantin 2007; Braun et al., 2010; Stefansen and Farstad, 2015). In this article, we will provide an enhanced insight into the complex issue of emotional involvement by examining how middle-class and working-class fathers relate to their sons’ ADHD diagnosis. Diagnosis and medical treatment of ADHD often entail difficult dilemmas for parents concerning their child’s well-being and educational success. We will use this as a lens through which we explore how the entwinement of gendered and classed perceptions informs men’s fathering practices and emotional involvement with their children. Drawing on a narrative interview study of fathers of boys diagnosed with ADHD (Olsvold, 2012), we describe classed differences in fathers’ narratives around their sons’ ADHD diagnosis and medication. These different narratives contribute to enhanced insight into how classed experiences and life situations play into and shape different formations of masculinity and emotionally involved fathering. © 2017 Policy Press