Hiroko Iwata

Defense Date

10-19-2009

Graduation Date

Fall 2009

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Nursing

School

School of Nursing

Committee Chair

Joan Lockhart

Committee Member

Rick Zoucha

Committee Member

Emi Mori

Keywords

Fatherhood, Japanese men, Lived experience, Phenomenology, Transition

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand the meaning of the lived experience of the Japanese men during the transition to fatherhood. Review of the literature revealed a lack of men's own perspective and justified the need of this study. Hermeneutic phenomenology was chosen because it was most useful to answer questions of meaning of the lived experience. Participants were 12 Japanese men who had a first-time healthy child younger than 1-year of age, who were sought by using a purposeful sampling technique. Data generation and data analysis were guided by philosophy of hermeneutic phenomenology. The findings revealed the meaning of Japanese men's experiences during the transition to fatherhood. The following six themes were identified: 1) feeling oneself as a father; 2) realizing oneself as a husband; 3) having the wife's pregnancy and delivery for the first time as an impressive experience; 4) sharing the time and space with one's child; 5) being aware of a change and trying to adjust to a new life; and 6) feeling the difference between one's wife. These six themes created essence of the phenomenon of "becoming a father". This hermeneutic phenomenological study revealed what has been ignored among health care professionals in the Japanese society, that is, the Japanese men's own voice as becoming first-time fathers of infants. The findings contributes to midwifery and child health nursing knowledge and theory development by providing better understanding of fathers' perspectives during the transition to fatherhood.

Format

PDF

Language

English

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