Emotional Geographies of Expectant Fathering

近几十年来，社会强烈强调高质量的父子关系，因为它与儿童的积极发展有关（2013年准爸爸计划）；这种对更亲密/情感参与的父亲的期望引发了人文地理学对父亲的研究（Meah 2017; Aitken 2009）。然而，迄今为止，还没有关于准爸爸的地理研究——尽管它具有显著的空间性质，并且认识到怀孕期间的参与可以对父子关系产生积极影响（Bond et al. 2010）。基于作者之前在硕士/本科阶段的研究——这两个研究都致力于父亲的地理学，分别是关于爱/亲密关系的构建和关于职业父亲如何平衡工作/家庭——拟议的研究旨在检验准父亲的情感地理学。具体来说，它试图探索父亲对“怀孕”空间的体验；“日常”空间（特别是家庭/工作场所）不断变化的地理位置以及与胎儿的关系，最终证明了准爸爸是一种深刻的情感空间实践。建议在怀孕期间，从妊娠早期到出生后三个月，通过混合方法反复收集数据。一组父亲将被要求定期进行深度访谈（可能每六周一次）；每隔两周保持征求日记（Morrison 2012），以及由研究人员进行人种学“同行”和房屋参观。拟议的研究将通过批判性地展示如何像母亲一样，父亲的情感地理超越了孩子的出生，从而扩展当前关于父亲的地理文献，这可能对包容/承认准父亲角色的政策有一些重大影响，特别是在临床/工作场所。

Recent decades have seen strong societal emphasis on quality father-child relationships due to its associations with positive child development (Expectant Fathers Programme 2013); such expectations on more intimate/emotionally-involved fathering has provoked research on fathering within Human Geography (Meah 2017; Aitken 2009). However, to date, there has been no geographic research on the geographies of expectant fathering- despite its significantly spatial nature and recognition that involvement during pregnancy can have positive implications for father-child bonding (Bond et al. 2010). Building on the author's previous research at Masters/undergraduate level- both dedicated to the geographies of fathering, respectively on the construction of relationships of love/intimacy and on how employed fathers balance work/home- the proposed research intends to examine the emotional geographies of expectant fathering. Specifically, it seeks to explore fathers' experiences of 'pregnancy' spaces; the changing geographies of 'everyday' spaces (particularly the home/workplace) and bonding relationships with the foetus, ultimately to demonstrate how expectant fathering is a profoundly emotional spatial practice.It is proposed that data be repeatedly collected via a mixed-method approach over the course of the pregnancy, from the first trimester to three-months after the birth. A cohort of fathers will be asked to engage in periodic in-depth interviews (possibly every six weeks); maintain solicited-diaries (Morrison 2012) for two-week intervals, as well as ethnographic 'go-alongs' and house-tours by the researcher. The proposed research will extend current geographic literature on fathering by critically demonstrating how, much like mothering, the emotional geographies of fathering transcend the birth of the child, which may have some significant implications for policy on inclusion/recognition of the role of expectant fathers, especially in clinical/workplaces.