June 21, 2021

Paul Hodkinson and Ranjana Das welcome you to the online launch event for their new book - New Fathers, Mental Health and Digital Communication, at 11 am UK time on 21st June. This launch event will feature a discussion of the main themes of the book by the authors, and commentaries from our invited guests and the opportunity for all attendees to ask questions. We will also be able to offer a publisher's discount from Palgrave Macmillan on the day.

Speakers:

• Paul Hodkinson and Ranjana Das (Authors, University of Surrey)
• Steven Roberts (Monash University, Australia)
• Rikke Andreassen (Roskilde University, Denmark)
• Andrew Mayers (Bournemouth University, UK)
• Kathy Jones (The Fatherhood Institute)
• Chair: Faith Gibson (University of Surrey)

About the Book:

New Fathers, Mental Health and Digital Communication - explores the experiences of new fathers struggling with mental health difficulties and focuses on the role of digital media as part of their approaches to coping. Hodkinson and Das show how the ways new fathers are positioned by society can make it hard for them to recognize their struggles as legitimate, or reach out for help. The book explores a range of different uses of digital communication by struggling fathers, from selective forms of disconnection, to the seeking out of online information or support. The authors highlight the significance even of the smallest digital acts as part of coping journeys and outline the development of tentative or hidden attempts to reach out for help, and the potential for supportive digital interactions to emerge. The book’s conclusions highlight the agentic possibilities digital media might offer for struggling new fathers, while emphasizing the need for improvements in how they are prepared and supported by health services and others.

About the authors:

Dr Paul Hodkinson is Reader in Sociology at the University of Surrey, UK. His research encompasses fathers and fatherhood, youth cultures, and the role of digital media in contemporary societies. He recently authored (with Rachel Brooks) Sharing Care: Equal and Primary Carer Fathers and Early Years Parenting (2020). Dr Ranjana Das is Reader in Media and Communication at the University of Surrey, UK. She researches uses and consequences of communication technologies, with a recent focus on parenthood. She explores what the digital turn has meant for new mothers in her latest book: Early Motherhood in Digital Societies (2019).

If you would like to attend, please register via our Eventbrite link: Book Launch: New Fathers, Mental Health and Digital Communication Tickets, Mon 21 Jun 2021 at 11:00 | Eventbrite