Engaged fatherhood and new models of “nurturing care”: Lessons learnt from Austria, Italy, Lithuania and Portugal

Abstract

Research on gender-based violence highlights the need to engage men in prevention work through social change programs that present care as a powerful antidote to violence. Implementation of such programs worldwide provides many examples of how education and support for fathers and fathers-to-be can promote healthy masculinities and relationships with an intimate partner and their children. This article aims to explore the findings and lessons learned from the pilot of the European Union-funded Promotion, Awareness Raising and Engagement of men in Nurture Transformations (PARENT) project (PARENT) which sought to develop and pilot curricula adapted from the internationally tested Program P methodology. The PARENT pilot worked in four European countries to provide training activities for social, educational, and health professionals, as well as education groups for fathers and parents, with the overarching goal of preventing domestic violence through the promotion of engaged fatherhood. By reporting the results from mixed-methods impact evaluations of pilot programs conducted with professionals and parents, this article discusses how gender-synchronous father-focused training can contribute to a shift toward increased positive engagement of fathers during the first 1000 days of a child's life. The article conveys the pilot's promising impact on the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of professionals and parents, and it examines some of the key contextual factors, limitations, and implementation approaches that plausibly contributed to the PARENT pilot outcomes, with the aim to formulate useful considerations for future scale-up efforts or the future implementation of similar programs to engage fathers in nurturing care and violence prevention.