Hard hearts: a critical look at liberal humanitarianism in refugee support movements

Danielle Every, Martha Augoustino

Constructions of primary caregiving fathers in popular parenting texts

Expectations and norms of fatherhood are evolving, with fathers now expected to be more involved in childcare. These changes have made it possible for a growing number of fathers to assume a primary caregiving role. Catering to these fathers, a growing number of books have been published focusing on primary caregiving fathers. The present article reports on a discourse analysis of nine such books. Four interpretative repertoires were identified, suggesting very specific ways in which it is deemed appropriate for men to take on primary caregiving. The findings emphasize the need to pay ongoing attention to popular parenting texts since, despite claims they encourage and support involved models of fathering, the books present and reproduce potentially limited accounts of fathers who are primary caregivers. As such, the findings highlight the importance of being critical of claims that fatherhood is evolving, given such evolution may be mitigated by ongoing normativity with regard to fathering.Sarah C. Hunter, Damien W. Riggs, and Martha Augoustino

The educational experiences and wellbeing of young children with migrant or refugee backgrounds

Dr Clemence Due, Dr Damien W. Riggs and Prof Martha Augoustino

When are anti-fat attitudes understood as prejudice versus truth? An experimental study of social influence effects

Background/Objectives If people who hold anti-fat attitudes believe these attitudes to be true, then anti-prejudice appeals are likely to be unsuccessful, if only because the targets will not see their attitudes as in need of change. The current study examined processes that may lead people to see their anti-fat attitudes as 'truth' or as 'prejudice'. Subjects/Methods Participants (N = 482) read anti-fat statements and were then presented with an interpretation of these statements as 'truth' or 'prejudice'. The source of this interpretation was either an (i) in-group or out-group member and (ii) expert or non-expert. Participants' judgements of the statements were expected to vary such that in-group others and experts would exert more influence than would out-group others and non-experts. Results Participants aligned their own interpretations of an anti-fat statement with those of an expert, but not with those of a non-expert, F(1,466) = 8.97, p <0.05, eta(2)(p) = 0.02. The group membership variable had no effect on judgements of 'truth' or 'prejudice' of the anti-fat statement. Conclusion The expressions that people believe constitute anti-fat prejudice versus truth about people described as overweight are influenced by exposure to expert opinion (in this case, by medical doctors). Implications for the success of weight-based anti-prejudice appeals and for healthcare provision are discussed

Ideological dilemmas in accounts of primary caregiving fathers in Australian news media

Norms and expectations regarding fathers are changing, with fathers now expected to be more involved in caregiving. One consequence of this is an increase in fathers who assume the primary caregiving role. The study reported in this paper involved a discourse analysis of 176 Australian newspaper articles that focused on primary caregiving fathers. Three recurring interpretative repertoires pertaining to primary caregiving fathers were identified, suggesting contradictory and dilemmatic accounts of this role. These were: (1) advocating for primary caregiving fathers, (2) comparing the past and present, and (3) barriers to father involvement. Overall, when describing the ‘‘typical” father who provides primary care, the articles promoted the evolving cultural ideal of fathers as involved and nurturing caregivers, however they nonetheless justified continued gendered inequalities in parenting. Therefore, despite claims that new models of fathering are encouraged and promoted in western cultures, the analysis demonstrates that media accounts construct and reproduce hegemonic masculinity. The paper concludes by suggesting that a more critical lens should be applied to claims of support for greater father involvement, as despite structural and social support in favour of involved fathering, this support is comprised of contradictory elements that simultaneously undermine this emerging ideal.Sarah C. Hunter, Martha Augoustinos, Damien W. Rigg

The Discursive Denial of Racism by Finnish Populist Radical Right Politicians Accused of Anti-Muslim Hate-Speech

This chapter explores Finnish populist radical right politicians’ discursive denials of racism against Muslims following the 2015 European “refugee crisis”. The critical discursive psychological analysis of the politicians’ Facebook accounts identifies four ways in which racism was denied: first, through constructing the statements as mere displays of undisputable facts and common-sense; second, through personal narratives and ontological gerrymandering that acted as ‘proof’ of the politician’s non-racist disposition; third, through transferring the discussion from issues about race to concern matters of cultural threats; and, fourth, through reversing racism to the politicians’ political antagonists. The analyses show that in their discursive denial of racist hate-speech against Muslims, the Finnish politicians relied more on cultural arguments than welfare-protectionist ones. That is, the denials were primarily warranted through nostalgic references to Finnish national identity, people and values, and rhetorical promises that the hope of saving these rests on resisting the cultural threat posed by Islam.Peer reviewe