Martin Robb
I am an educator, researcher and writer on care theory and practice. I am a Senior Lecturer (equivalent to Associate Professor) in the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care at The Open University (UK), where I am the lead academic for the MA in Childhood and Youth Studies. I'm co-editor of the international interdisciplinary journal 'Children & Society' and host of the Careful Thinking podcast, which explores ideas about care and author of the related Careful Thinking Substack newsletter. I studied English Literature at Cambridge University (M.A.) and Manchester University (PhD), after which I spent a number of years organising education initiatives with marginalised groups and communities. I hold an Advanced Diploma in Child Development and an MSc in Psychology from The Open University. My academic research has been broadly concerned with issues relating to gender, identity and care, and I have an emerging interest in care ethics. My books include 'Men, Masculinities and the Care of Children: Images, Ideas and Identities', published in 2020, and 'Men and Loss: New Perspectives on Bereavement, Grief and Masculinity', co-edited with Kerry Jones, in 2024.
Address: School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care
Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes
England, U.K.
MK7 6AA
Address: School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care
Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes
England, U.K.
MK7 6AA
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Books by Martin Robb
This book asks whether men’s care for children, both as fathers and practitioners, actually differs at all from the care provided by mothers and female carers? In what ways do men and concepts of masculinity need to change if they are to play a greater role in the care of children or are such societal perceptions based on outdated gender stereotypes? Bringing together cutting-edge theory, up-to-date research and current practice, this book analyses the role of both fathers and male professionals working with children and highlights the implications of this for future policy and practice. It also examines dominant notions of masculinity and representations of male carers in the media and popular culture, asking how our societal expectations may need to evolve if men are to play an equal role in the care of children as demanded by current policy and wider social developments.
Edited books by Martin Robb
Book chapters by Martin Robb
This book asks whether men’s care for children, both as fathers and practitioners, actually differs at all from the care provided by mothers and female carers? In what ways do men and concepts of masculinity need to change if they are to play a greater role in the care of children or are such societal perceptions based on outdated gender stereotypes? Bringing together cutting-edge theory, up-to-date research and current practice, this book analyses the role of both fathers and male professionals working with children and highlights the implications of this for future policy and practice. It also examines dominant notions of masculinity and representations of male carers in the media and popular culture, asking how our societal expectations may need to evolve if men are to play an equal role in the care of children as demanded by current policy and wider social developments.
Design: This review was guided by the following research questions: 1. The impact of perinatal death for men 2. The meaning of the loss for a father's sense of identity 3. The extent to which men were able to express grief while supporting their partners and, 4. how men's experience of grief was mediated by the support and care received by health professionals.
Data Sources: We searched the following databases: Medline; PsychINFO; CINAHL to identify relevant articles published from the year 2000 onwards. The searches were run between 1/04/2018 and 8/4/2018.
Review methods: A scoping review was conducted of nursing, psychological, medical and social science databases using these key words: fathers’ grief, men's grief, perinatal loss and death, stillbirth and neonatal death.
Results: Studies indicated that men reported less intense and enduring levels of psychological outcomes than women but were more likely to engage in avoidance and coping behaviours such as increased alcohol consumption. Men felt that their role was primarily as a ‘supportive partner’ and that they were overlooked by health professionals.
Conclusions: Further research is needed on men's experience of grief following perinatal death, especially on their physical and mental well-being.
Impact: This review addressed the problem of the lack of knowledge around paternal needs following perinatal death and highlighted areas which researchers could usefully investigate with the eventual aim of improving care for fathers.
Young men from socially marginalised backgrounds have often experienced fractured and precarious family relationships, impacting on their masculine identities, their ability to sustain meaningful adult relationships and their capacity to care. However, although young men with these histories may have had difficult or disrupted relationships with their fathers, many report positive relationships with their mothers and other female caregivers. Questioning the current policy emphasis on the importance of positive male role models, this paper will argue that young men often learn to be responsible – and caring – adult males from their mothers and other women.
In addition, young men in disadvantaged communities are often caught up in local cultures of hypermasculinity, engaging in behaviour that is damaging to themselves, to women, and to society at large. Making the transition from reckless (or ‘care-less’) young masculinity to responsible (or ‘care-ful’) adult masculinity can be a difficult process, requiring consistent relationships of care from supportive adults. One of the catalysts for making a change of this kind may be the experience of becoming a father, and the presentation will draw particularly on interviews with young fathers about their relationships with their partners and their experiences of caring for their children.