Are you your father's child? Social identity influences of father absence in a South African setting

Smith, Petunia; Khunou, Grace; Nathane-Taulela, Motlalepule

doi:10.1080/14330237.2014.997013

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Despite the support from their social fathers, the women struggled to develop a sense of belonging and identity according to their cultural beliefs. These findings were aligned with those of Smith et al (2014) who explored social identity in a group of young men and women aged 21 to 35 years and found that ‘father absence was associated with lower self-perceptions and non-use of paternal surname with diminished sense of identity’ (p. 433). These findings also have implications in terms of Erikson’s psychosocial development theory as the fifth stage of his theory, namely, identity versus role confusion, suggests that failure to form a sense of identity may result in role confusion (McLeod, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Understanding the perceived psychosocial impact of father absence on adult women

Ramatsetse

Ross

2022

South African Journal of Psychology

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Given South Africa’s social, historical, political, and economic landscape which has contributed towards a relatively high prevalence of father absence, particularly in Black families, and the risk of adverse implications for children’s psychosocial development, the issue of absent fathers is an important area for research. However, the differential impact of father absence on the girl child remains relatively under-researched. Hence, the study explored the perceived psychosocial impact of father absence during childhood and adolescence on adult women. A case study research design located within a qualitative research approach was employed and nine adult women aged 18 to 35 years were purposefully recruited from Grobler Park, Johannesburg West for participation in the study. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, three participants were interviewed telephonically and seven face-to-face. The research was guided by Mkhize’s sociocultural psychological tradition and Erikson’s psychosocial development theory. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the collected data. Among the key findings was that the women perceived the experience of father absence to have adversely affected their feelings of belonging and sense of identity, with some participants having suffered emotional and financial challenges. Participants acknowledged a lack of healthy relationships with other men associated with having grown up with an absent father. While most of the women adopted positive coping strategies, a small number resorted to negative coping. There was also recognition of the important roles that social fathers assume in child-rearing. These findings have important implications for promoting positive father-daughter relations.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Understanding the perceived psychosocial impact of father absence on adult women

Ramatsetse

Ross

2022

South African Journal of Psychology

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“…Ambiguous loss is known to create long-term confusion about who is in and out of the psychological family (Huebner, Mancini, Wilcox, Grass & Grass, 2007), as is the case with the phenomenon of absent fathers. In some situations children live with their father when they are young but then separation occurs resulting in him being physically absent; others discover him later having grown up not knowing him, while others never seem to find out (Padi et al, 2014;Smith, Khunou, & Nathane-Taulela, 2013). The long-term confusion is known to create a powerful barrier to coping and also contributes to relational conflict (Huebner et al, 2007).…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Factors That Hinder Paternity Disclosure to Children: South African Mothers’ Perspectives

Nduna

2014

Journal of Feminist Family Therapy

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Undisclosed father identity is prominent among South African children growing up without a biological father. Reasons for paternity non-disclosure are not well-understood. Findings from three focus group discussions with 30 mothers and guardians, aged 25 to 35, from Johannesburg, South Africa identified factors that hinder paternity disclosure to children. Disclosure of father identity was difficult when there was denial of paternity, when the mother got pregnant by a married man, and when the whereabouts of the father was unknown. Fear of betraying the trust of family members also prevented disclosure. Undisclosed paternity is strongly woven with larger-scale cultural, social, and economic factors. Findings support the need to strengthen family planning, address gender-based violence, and women's economic dependence on their male partners in order for paternity disclosure to be safe. Clinical implications are discussed.

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“…The data was then analysed through thematic content analysis, as described by Smith et al (2014): the transcripts were read and reread to identify emergent themes. However, as indicated by Bazeley (2009: 6), thematic content analysis is not only about themes.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migration in Southern Africa

Tevera¹

2023

AHMR

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Are you your father's child? Social identity influences of father absence in a South African setting

Cited by 11 publications

References 9 publications

Understanding the perceived psychosocial impact of father absence on adult women

Understanding the perceived psychosocial impact of father absence on adult women

Factors That Hinder Paternity Disclosure to Children: South African Mothers’ Perspectives

Migration in Southern Africa

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