Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and parenting: a scoping review

Irrefutably, the continuing processes of colonisation in Australia is contributing to the poor health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. As Walker and Shepherd (2008) argue, ‘historical legacies of forced separation from family and removal from traditional country continues to affect the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous people’ (Walker and Shepherd 2008, p. 6). This trauma continues to affect the lives of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, as distress ‘can have a significant impact on carer–child relationships, parenting styles and how well families function’ (Walker and Shepherd 2008, p. 6). For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male parents, colonisation restricts them from performing traditional roles as ‘landowner, educators, father figures, providers and decision makers’ (Reilly and Rees 2018, p. 422), which negatively affects their ability to parent.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men rarely rate a mention within discussions of parenting (Reilly and Rees 2018), unless framed in the negative (Stuart et al. 2015) or as the cause of dysfunctional family life (Stoneham et al. 2014). Contributing to this exclusion is a parenting domain, which is dominated by a narrative that tends to exclusively focus and privilege the roles and responsibilities of females (Astone and Peters 2014). As a consequence, the roles and responsibilities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men within parenting have largely been neglected and/or ignored. It is feared that ‘Aboriginal children of both sexes may no longer be receiving adequate fathering’ (Adams 2006, p. 70) due to the breakdown of kinship systems (Adams 2006).

A systematic review by Baldwin and Bick (2018) on the mental health of first-time fathers in high-income countries found that there were ‘wide gaps in the provision of services; many fathers did not have access to tailored information resources nor were their needs generally acknowledged by health professionals’ (Baldwin and Bick 2018, p. 2064). In Australia, the lack of options for male parents to engage with appropriate support services and programs is cause for concern and as Baldwin and Bick (2018) noted; ‘despite increasing evidence of perinatal consequences for men’s mental health, fathers continue to report being marginalized by the maternity and early years’ services’ (Baldwin and Bick 2018, p. 2064).

In 2014, Panter-Brick et al. (2014) conducted a systematic review on parenting interventions that focussed on the engagement and participation of fathers within such programmes. Panter-Brick et al. (2014) ‘identified only 92 parenting interventions worldwide that disaggregated findings by sex of parent and thus could describe outcomes in relation to fathers’ participation’ (Bernard van Leer Foundation 2015, p. 30). Furthermore, Panter-Brick et al. (2014) go on to explain how in all the aforementioned interventions, the sample size of male parents was usually small and the ‘impact of engaging with both parents was almost never mentioned’ (Bernard van Leer Foundation 2015, p. 30).

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male parents, education and/or support programs specifically designed for this cohort of males during this period is critical to their psychological wellbeing (Adams 2006). In addition, evidence from the systematic review by Baldwin and Bick (2018):

…adds further support for an urgent review of how we plan, provide and resource maternity and early years’ services, in order to recognize the impact that pregnancy and birth may have on a father’s mental health, as well as the essential role fathers play in supporting their partner and infant [Baldwin and Bick 2018, p. 2065].

Clearly, the roles and responsibilities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male parents should be considered important elements within the parenting domain, including having equal access to appropriate support services and programs throughout parenthood.

This scoping review aimed to identify and describe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parenting programs that included male parents. This review had one research question: what strategy(ies) and/or programs have been implemented that focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male parenting?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males who are either parents, carers or responsible for the day-to-day caring of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child or children.

Parenting programs that included Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and was delivered or performed in any setting nationally (Australia) were included.

All reviews, qualitative, quantitative, economic and mixed-methods studies were considered for inclusion. Policy papers and expert opinion pieces were not included.

A four-step search strategy was used to find peer-reviewed publications and grey literature. Key words were used to search PubMed and Informit ATSIhealth to identify additional keywords and index terms (Joanna Briggs Institute 2014). A search was then undertaken on the PubMed and Informit ATSIhealth databases. The following websites were also searched for grey literature: Google, the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) website, Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet, National Library of Australia and the Lowitja Institute. The reference list of included publications was searched for additional studies. In addition, relevant experts were also asked if they were aware of additional missing studies.

The search of the PubMed database was conducted on 25 November 2018 and was restricted to publications published in English, with no date restrictions (Appendix 1). This was followed by the search of the Informit ATSIhealth database conducted on 10 December 2018, and restricted to publications published in English, with no date restrictions (Appendix 2). The search terms used for both databases were: Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Indigenous, men, male, dad, father, uncle, carer, guardian, parent, grandparent, grandfather, grandmother, baby, babies, kid, child, children, birth, conceive, conception, daughter, son, girl, boy.

K. Canuto identified articles that appeared to meet the inclusion criteria from their title and abstract. The full text of these articles was retrieved and reviewed by K. Canuto and S. G. Harfield to confirm if they met the inclusion criteria. If K. Canuto and S. G. Harfield should have differing opinions regarding an article’s acceptance, A. Brown would be available to determine whether an article fit the inclusion criteria; however, this situation did not eventuate.

The ‘JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research’ was used to assess the quality of the included papers (Joanna Briggs Institute 2014). The lead author, K. Canuto, performed the quality appraisal, which was verified by K. J. Canuto, with any differing of opinions on the appraisal discussed until consensus was reached.

A total of 638 publications were found from the PubMed and Informit ATSIhealth database searches. After excluding duplicates and initial title and abstract screening, 210 full-text papers were retrieved along with 10 papers as a result of the grey literature search and after consultation with colleagues. A further 212 papers were excluded following full text review. At the end of study selection, eight papers (Jia 2000; Newell et al. 2006; Males in Black Inc. and UnitingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010; Parker 2010; Hammond 2011; Kurti et al. 2013; Collard et al. 2016; Rossiter et al. 2017) were found to have met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) diagram provides a graphical representation of the search strategy results (Fig. 1; Moher et al. 2009).

Fig. 1.  PRISMA diagram of the study selection.

The results of the quality appraisal are reported in Table 1. The methodology of only three of the studies could be identified (Jia 2000; Males in Black Inc. and UnitingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010; Rossiter et al. 2017). Three papers included a statement positioning the researcher (Jia 2000; Collard et al. 2016; Rossiter et al. 2017), with only one (Males in Black Inc. and UnitingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010) also including reflections on the researchers influence on the research and vice versa. Most of the papers were able to adequately represent the participants voices in the publication (Jia 2000; Newell et al. 2006; Parker 2010; Hammond 2011; Kurti et al. 2013; Rossiter et al. 2017) and most of the study’s conclusions appropriately draw from the analysis, or interpretation, of the data (Jia 2000; Males in Black Inc. and UnitingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010; Parker 2010; Hammond 2011; Kurti et al. 2013; Rossiter et al. 2017); however, only two studies explicitly stated that appropriate ethics approval was granted for the study (Kurti et al. 2013; Rossiter et al. 2017).

Table 1.  Quality appraisal of included studies
Q, question; Y, yes; N, no; U, unclear

Of the eight papers that met the selection criteria (Jia 2000; Newell et al. 2006; Males in Black Inc. and UnitingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010; Parker 2010; Hammond 2011; Kurti et al. 2013; Collard et al. 2016; Rossiter et al. 2017), all described a parenting program or projects that included Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males. Five were program reports (Jia 2000; Newell et al. 2006; Males in Black Inc. and UnitingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010; Kurti et al. 2013; Collard et al. 2016), two were descriptions about a particular program (Parker 2010; Hammond 2011) and one was a qualitative study (Rossiter et al. 2017). Table 2 provides brief details about each paper including the particular male parenting program. With the exception of Collard et al. (2016) who included four children in the production of the short films for future men’s parenting resources, in all other papers, the participants were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males (Jia 2000; Newell et al. 2006; Males in Black Inc. and UnitingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010; Parker 2010; Hammond 2011; Kurti et al. 2013; Collard et al. 2016; Rossiter et al. 2017).

Table 2.  Characteristics of included studies

Programs were delivered in a variety of states. Four were delivered in New South Wales (Newell et al. 2006; Hammond 2011; Rossiter et al. 2017), one was in Queensland (Jia 2000), one in South Australia (Males in Black Inc. and UnitingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010), one in Western Australia (Collard et al. 2016), one was a national program (Parker 2010) and one program (Kurti et al. 2013) was delivered across 12 sites throughout Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Two of the programs delivered in New South Wales were delivered to men within correctional centres (Hammond 2011; Rossiter et al. 2017), two were delivered in community settings (Parker 2010; Collard et al. 2016), one in the health service setting (Newell et al. 2006), one in an early years parenting centre (Males in Black Inc. and UnitingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010), one was delivered in both the community and health service settings (Kurti et al. 2013) and one setting was not defined (Jia 2000).

The program by Rossiter et al. (2017) involved five 3-h sessions including topics such as: being a dad today; understanding our kids; yarning; keeping our kids safe; and coaching our kids. The program by Newell et al. (2006) included two 15-week structured focus group sessions and the rest of the programs involved yarning sessions (Hammond 2011), workshops (Parker 2010; Hammond 2011; Collard et al. 2016), support groups (Jia 2000) and/or a variety or combination of strategies (Jia 2000; Males in Black Inc. and UnitingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010; Parker 2010; Hammond 2011; Kurti et al. 2013; Collard et al. 2016).

The program by Kurti et al. (2013) was the only program that included male partners, grandfathers and uncles in addition to fathers. The program by Newell et al. (2006) supported Aboriginal men who had between zero and eight children and all the other programs (Jia 2000; Males in Black Inc. and UnitingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010; Parker 2010; Hammond 2011; Collard et al. 2016; Rossiter et al. 2017) specifically targeted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fathers.

All eight programs (Jia 2000; Newell et al. 2006; Males in Black Inc. and UnitingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010; Parker 2010; Hammond 2011; Kurti et al. 2013; Collard et al. 2016; Rossiter et al. 2017) reported positive outcomes including, but not limited to, positive lifestyle changes (Males in Black Inc. and UnitingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010; Parker 2010) and improvements in attitudes towards parenting and personal growth (Newell et al. 2006; Males in Black Inc. and UnitingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010; Kurti et al. 2013; Rossiter et al. 2017). Another program outcome was the development of resources to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander father (Collard et al. 2016). These results are detailed in Table 2: characteristics of included studies.

There are currently few published studies on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and parenting, and the evidence from this scoping review is unlikely to be of sufficient depth and breadth to be generalisable for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men in Australia. In saying this, the eight papers (Jia 2000; Newell et al. 2006; Males in Black Inc. and UnitingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010; Parker 2010; Hammond 2011; Kurti et al. 2013; Collard et al. 2016; Rossiter et al. 2017) highlighted the men’s willingness to engage with male parenting programs. This scoping review highlights the lack of programs and services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male parents from antenatal to post-natal periods and beyond.

When discussing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male parenting, it is important to understand the ‘contextual factors including colonization, discrimination and bias in government policy’ (Reilly and Rees 2018, p.421) and their effect on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and their parenting. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in general continue to show great resilience in the face of historical and contemporary traumas resulting from a continuing colonisation process. In saying this, the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men have largely been ‘shaped by unique historical, socio-cultural economic, environmental and political factors that impact on their psychological and physical wellbeing’ (Canuto et al. 2018, p. 2).

Despite the important roles and responsibilities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males as parents (Jia 2000; Adams 2006; Newell et al. 2006; Parker 2010; Hammond 2011; Collard et al. 2016; Fletcher 2017; Rossiter et al. 2017) and the many health challenges associated with fatherhood (Giallo et al. 2012), the availability of appropriate strategies and programs for this cohort of men remains limited. Moreover, the realms of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male parenting remains underfunded and under-resourced, and as Panter-Brick et al. (2014) suggests, men-only parenting services ‘are often add-on to other programmes, and deemed unsustainable when resources are short’ (Panter-Brick et al. 2014, p. 1208).

The lack of appropriate education, support programs and services available for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male parents has not stopped this cohort of males from engaging in and wanting to fulfil their roles and responsibilities as parents (Jia 2000; Newell et al. 2006; Males in Black Inc. and UnitingCare Wesley Port Pirie 2010; Parker 2010; Hammond 2011; Kurti et al. 2013; Collard et al. 2016; Fletcher 2017; Rossiter et al. 2017; Reilly and Rees 2018).

The lack of published literature on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parenting programs is reflective of the lack of programs and services delivered. The value and importance male parents can add to the lives of their children should not be underestimated. Having the opportunity to perform their roles and responsibilities as parents is not only important because ‘children need and love their dads, but also because of the significant impact that fathers have on the social, cognitive, emotional and physical wellbeing of children from infancy to adolescence and with lasting influences into their adult life’ (Berlyn et al. 2008). Although it is acknowledged that the family unit and connection to culture is central to the health and wellbeing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (Brown et al. 2009), many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male parents may lack the necessary resources and support to navigate the realms of parenting in a beneficial way for their children and families.

Addressing the attitudes and beliefs of some maternal and early year services and staff (Brown et al. 2009; Fleming and King 2010; Cameron et al. 2014; Panter-Brick et al. 2014) should be seen as an opportunity to create inclusive spaces for male parents. Maternal and early years services that exclude male parents should begin to reorient their services to focus on the strengths and positive effects these male parents can have on the child and the whole family unit (Bernard van Leer Foundation 2015). Supplying and delivering culturally appropriate information to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander male parents during the pre-natal, pregnancy and post-partum period could increase these parent’s understanding of what is occurring, what to expect and how best they can support their family during these important times.

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.