Reshaping the Family Man: A Grounded Theory Study of the Meaning of Grandfatherhood

Abstract

This study explored how 14 grandfathers living in a rural area in the East of England understood becoming and being a grandfather. Grandfathers were recruited through snowball sampling and loosely structured interviews were employed to enable participants to talk about issues they felt important. Using constructionist grounded theory the analysis positioned grandfathering within the life histories of participants, with three main organising elements: becoming a man; maintaining masculinity during fatherhood; and the potential repositioning masculinities of the grandfather as family man. This study provides evidence of grandfathering being an individualistic experience which offers the potential to counter the notion of hegemonic masculinity which defined the participants' collective experience of fatherhood.