Not “My Territory:” How Gender Role Socialization Impacts Father Involvement in Caring for a Child with an Eating Disorder

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to explore the experiences of clinicians working with fathers caring for a child experiencing an eating disorder. A phenomenological qualitative method was used to answer the question: What do clinicians with experiences working with male caregivers perceive to be barriers to male caregiver involvement in effectively caring for someone experiencing an eating disorder? Ten participants were interviewed for this study, and multiple themes were uncovered that identified significant barriers and interventions for father involvement in caregiving. Interview excerpts, accompanied by a thick description of the clinician’s lived experiences with male caregivers, are presented to enliven the data.

KEYWORDS:

• Eating disorders
• caregivers
• fathers
• treatment barriers
• qualitative research

Acknowledgments

Kyle T. Ganson conceptualized this research study and conducted the sampling, data collection, data analysis, and manuscript writing. Johnnie Hamilton-Mason reviewed codes, provided mentorship, and assisted in editing the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ While this study proposed to explore a wider topic of male caregivers, for example fathers, spouses, boyfriends, grandfathers, among others, the participants spoke primarily of their work with fathers. Therefore, the remainder of this paper will speak only of fathers as caregivers.

Additional information

Funding

No grant funding was used for this study.

Notes on contributors

Kyle T. Ganson

Kyle T. Ganson is a clinical social worker in private practice and doctoral candidatespecializing in the treatment and research of eating disorders and boy's and men's mental health.

Johnnie Hamilton-Mason

Dr. Johnnie Hamilton-Mason is a Professor at Simmons School of Social Work where she cofoundedthe Pharnal Longus Academy for Undoing Racism in 2005. She teaches AdvancedClinical Practice, HBSE, Leadership, Political Strategies for Clinical Social Workers Practice,Practice with Immigrants and Refugees, Realities of Racism and Oppression and QualitativeResearch. Her scholarship and research interests are primarily on African American Women andFamilies, Black Mothers and daughters, intersectional social identities and treatment andpractice, and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. She has served as a Researcher at theUniversity of Texas’s Hurricane Katrina Researcher Collaborative. Dr. Hamilton-Mason presentspapers regularly at national and international conferences on such topics as the dynamics ofdiversity; teaching and learning issues related to diversity; HIV/AIDS prevention and treatmentin the United States and Africa; urban practice and urban leadership educational outcomes; crosscultural competency and racial identity theory in clinical work.