The family dynamics in immigrant families are not well known, especially with respect to gender roles (Chuang & Tamis-LeMonda, 2009). While there are many studies on women and children, the impact of immigration on men is a topic that has been explored very little (Roer-Strier, Strier, Este, Shimoni, & Clark, 2005). There are not many intercultural studies on the concept of fatherhood, and those on the interactions of fathers with preschool age children are scarce (Clarke, Shimoni, & Este, 2000). The interests of the Canadian Research Chair in Family Psychosocial Health and the Centre for Studies and Research on Family Health Intervention (CERIF) include the following: What are immigration's impacts on fathers’ roles and on power relationships in the families concerned? What are the difficulties that immigrant fathers encounter after immigration? How do they experience a child's birth, death or illness? What are the best practices for supporting them during these experiences?
In the Outaouais, there is a project underway that gives immigrant mothers and fathers a chance to express themselves on these issues in focus groups.
References
Chuang, S. & Tamis-LeMonda, C. S. (2009). Gender Roles in Immigrant Families: Parenting Views, Practices, and Child Development. Sex Roles, 60(7-8), pp. 451-455.
Clark, D., Shimoni, R., & Este, D. (2000). Supporting Immigrant and Refugee Fathers: A Training Manual for Human Service Workers. Public Health Agency of Canada: Childhood and Adolescence, 1-39.
Roer-Strier, D., Strier, R., Este, D., Shimoni, R., & Clark, D. (2005). Fatherhood and immigration: Challenging the deficit theory. Child and Family Social Work, 10, 315-329.
