Ethical Analysis: Father Involvement and Child Welfare in Social Work

This essay provides an analysis of father involvement in child welfare from a social work perspective, based on the article 'Father involvement and child welfare: The voices of men of colour.' It highlights the importance of both parents in a child's development and wellbeing, challenging the societal norm of prioritizing the mother's role. The essay discusses how unintentional bias in social work practices can marginalize fathers, emphasizing the need for a family-centered approach. It also underscores the importance of involving fathers in child welfare to ensure optimal physical, psychological, and social development of the child. The essay concludes by advocating for social work professionals to reduce bias and recognize fathers as significant contributors to a child's wellbeing. Desklib provides similar essays and solved assignments for students.

Running head: SOCIAL WORK
Social Work
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Social Work
The article: (Brodie, K., Paddock, N., Gilliam, C., & Chavez, J. (2014). Father involvement
and child welfare: The voices of men of colour. Journal of Social Work Values and
Ethics, 11(1), 33-41).
Summary of the Article and Significance in Ethics and Social Work
It is important to appreciate that gender plays a significant role in the welfare and
wellbeing of a child. The society has treated men as an unimportant gender when it comes to
taking care of a child. If the mother is taking care of the child, it is often assumed that that
care is enough. It is important to note both the mother and the father are essential for proper
development and wellbeing of a child. In most places of the world, the man is treated
important in child welfare only in instances where they are offering financial assistance. Due
to this, men tend to consider their role in parenting insignificant unless they are supporting
the mother and child financially.
Extensive evidence shows that the mother is the greatest determiner of the
relationship between father and child (Brodie, Paddock, Gilliam and Chavez, 2014). If the
mother is in a good/positive relationship with the father of the child, the man may be
encouraged to have confidence when it comes to co-parenting the child with the mother.
Where the relationship is negative, then the father may not have an appropriate chance to co-
parent the child. The mother is therefore an important gateway to the involvement of the
father in parenting the child. There are numerous advantages associated with involving a
father in parenting.

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The nature of social work practice may lead to some unintentional bias. This bias may
add to the threat that fathers have in the child welfare system. There is a law that intervenes
when it comes to this issue. The legislation states that the social workers should devote
themselves to ensuring that they operate from a family centred perspective. Such a
perspective ensures that bias is kept at minimum and there is limited subjectivity. It is worth
noting that even in social work revolving around child welfare, the father is rarely seen as the
focal point in the wellbeing of a child. Most of the times, the social workers make emphasis
on the mother. Their main aim is usually to ensure that the mother’s relationship with the
child is re-established.
As seen above, the father is not the primary concern in the welfare of children. It is
therefore necessary that the social work professionals reduce this bias and consider the father
as an important contributor to the wellbeing of the child. When the father is treated as if they
do not matter when it comes to the wellbeing of the child, they might be left wondering
where they fit in the equation. Research has revealed the importance of involving fathers in
the welfare of the child. This explains the initiatives that have been established to encourage
fatherhood. Including the biological father in the welfare of the child is an important way of
ensuring wholesome care. This is because a child needs both their mother and father for
optimal physical, psychological and social development. When father is available and
accessible, they contribute to the emotional and social development of the child.

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Reference
Brodie, K., Paddock, N., Gilliam, C., & Chavez, J. (2014). Father involvement and child
welfare: The voices of men of colour. Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics,
11(1), 33-41.