A study about the characteristics of the contemporary parental exercise and care network

Abstract

Considering the transformations that have occurred in the ways contemporary families operate, we propose an investigation on how heterosexual couples understand and exercise parenting, as well as on how they deal with the child care network. Based on qualitative methodology, 8 couples and their children’s pediatricians and educational coordinators were interviewed. The analysis of the results covered two categories: (1) The Construction of Parenthood and Care Network, and (2) Parental Exercise. Interviews were analyzed based on the perspective of psychoanalysis and psychosocial studies. We identified three possibilities for parenthood appropriation: (a) greater fluidity in parental roles, (b) egalitarian parental care, in which a greater value was assigned to the maternal figure, especially in the discourse made by parents and; (c) disruption with gender binarism in the parental exercise, but with a predominance of the responsibility for child care assigned to one of the spouses. As for sharing child care related tasks, both pediatricians and schools were seen as important parental tools.