Katarzyna Węgrzyn Unemployment: a threat to fatherhood or a challenge? In the twentieth century the traditional image of the father figure underwent serious alterations. Although some of its elements remained, a new model has not emerged yet. At present a certain crisis of fatherhood can be observed. In Poland it is caused by intense changes and new phenomena connected with economic and social transformations. Unemployment is one of the threats to the position of husband/father. Losing a job a man is no longer able to fulfill his traditional role and his situation gets worse when it is the wife who becomes the main bread-winner and provider for the family. In such circumstances many men are endangered by nervous break downs, depression, withdrawal from family life, or some kinds of pathology. But there are ways to avoid this threat. Periodical unemployment, not leading to absolute poverty, may become a challenge and a chance for redefining of one’s own role of a husband and a father; it may lead to the strengthening of the ties with the children, sharing responsibilities for their health and upbringing, and, as a result, it may contribute to finding a new way of self-realization. Key words: father, unemployment

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Eukrasia vol. 5 - Contents

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