An investigation of father involvement with hearing-impaired children.
Date
1979
Authors
McNeil, Martin
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Twenty of the twenty-five intact families with a hearing-impaired child, living in the Greater Victoria area, agreed to participate in this investigation of father involvement. Nine hypotheses were developed in conjunction with the assumptions made about father involvement in existing literature. These hypotheses were tested by means of an interview schedule which consisted of four parts: open-ended questions, a Likert scale, technical involvement questions and a perception scale. All questions excluding the technical involvement questions were presented to both fathers and mothers. The interviews took place in the homes of the participants and averaged approximately three hours per couple. The mean age of the fathers was 38.1 years and the mothers' ages averaged 34.1 years. The mean age of the children was 10.7 years. Since two of the families had a total of five older hearing-impaired, a mean age for the remaining eighteen children was calculated at 8.8 years. The results suggest that these fathers perceive themselves as being involved. The mothers were in agreement. The role of provider did not prevent or absolve the father from being involved with their hearing impaired children. Occupational commitments and timing of service delivery did make it more difficult for them to attend programs, meetings and appointments. More programming for fathers was seen as important to these men, especially in the area of manual communication. Defensiveness on the part of the father when instructed or informed by the mother was not seen as a major source of marital conflict. The fathers did prefer first-hand information. Fathers did not feel unwelcomed by professionals; however, both parents felt unlistened to by professionals during the diagnostic period. Mothers' and fathers' perceptions of father involvement were quite congruent. Some of the evidence seemed to suggest that father involvement is different from mother involvement.