The purpose of this study was to create an understanding of regulatory conceptions of parenthood and how these are articulated and legitimized in government documents and the media, and how this contributes to construct parenting. The empirical material consisted of the government's national strategies for parenting services (2018), two articles from Dagens Nyheter and one article from Arbetsvärlden. The data was analyzed with qualitative content analysis for two of the levels in Fairclough's critical discourse analysis: textual and social practice. The result shows two discourses in the state document that describe parenthood, the “equality discourse” as well as “the child's needs and right to a good parenting - discourse”. The use of language in the material attributes importance to parenting. This has consequences in social practice when the desired parenting behavior requires sufficient parental ability, a good relationship to both children and partners, as well as equal parenting. This constructs a framework for what is seen as deviant parental behaviors. The understanding of parenthood created through discourses in the state document is largely in line with how the discourses are portrayed in media. Equal parenting is seen as a future normality, while there are discursive disagreements about the problem of achieving this between the two social domains. Awareness of the role of meaning created by linguistics on social practice (as a social worker, other actor, and parent), provides greater choice and opportunity for resistance to counter the constructs of parenthood.

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