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

Nduna, Mzikazi

doi:10.1080/08952833.2014.965114

Cited by 10 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…This means children born before the new unabridged birth certificate rely on their parents to communicate their father's identity to them (Langa 2010;Phaswana 2003). From another perspective, the unwillingness to disclose a father's identity might be due to incest, being impregnated by a married man, denied pregnancy, or the mother (or her family) does not have or wish to have contact or a relationship with the father (Manyatshe 2013;Meerum Terwogt et al 2002;Nduna;Nduna and Jewkes 2011;Polela 2011). For the term 'undisclosed father' to be precisely defined some questions on disclosure should be considered so as to clearly categorise non-disclosure.…”

Section: Different Types Of Father Absencementioning

confidence: 97%

“…They allow for more honest disclosure and prevent feelings of re-victimisation in women who may have experienced gender-based violence. This was significant because violence against women features in narratives of absent and undisclosed fathers (Manyatshe 2013;Nduna). In line with the appropriate way of collecting free narratives, we chose an open interview style with a few exploratory and open-ended questions formulated in advance in a semi-structured interview schedule (Dahlgren, Emmelin and Winkvist 2004;Hennink, Hutter and Bailey 2011;Sands 2004).…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Defining absent, unknown and undisclosed fathers in South Africa

Padi¹,

Nduna²,

Khunou

et al. 2014

South African Review of Sociology

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The absence of fathers in African black families is high. Therefore research to understand how this impacts identity formation, the economic survival of households and generally how the phenomenon is understood by those who experience this absence, has been on the increase in South Africa. Nevertheless, there is little agreement on the meaning of the term, father absence. In an attempt to correct this, a study was undertaken in Mpumalanga provinces in South Africa among women aged 14 to 36. Through domain analysis of narratives collected from 20 the young women, this article provides multiple conceptualizations of father absence as experienced by the young women. The various categories emerging from the data provide the following types of understandings of father absence: absent and unknown; absent but known; absent and undisclosed; and unknown and deceased. From a detailed discussion of these understandings, this article shows that the concept father absence is embedded in socio-economic and political contexts and therefore it is complex, and thus should be defined with care. It is thus hoped that the conceptualization provided here will allow researchers and practitioners to better understand the phenomenon of father absence.

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Section: Different Types Of Father Absencementioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining absent, unknown and undisclosed fathers in South Africa

Padi¹,

Nduna²,

Khunou

et al. 2014

South African Review of Sociology

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“…Asking was a process and when they asked, they did not always receive a positive response or correct information. Parents' responses to being asked about paternity can be evasive and negative [13][14][15].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following the break-up the mother raises the child single-handedly and in the context where most single mothers hold precarious jobs and earn little wages mothers may feel pain in raising the child without the support of the father. These are reported as sore points in maternal non-disclosure of biological fathers [9] [13,14,39,40].…”

Section: Relationship With the Fathermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some cases, where children do not know their biological fathers this is due to insurmountable factors such as stranger-rape or the unknown whereabouts of the putative father; however, in other cases, the father and his whereabouts are known to the mother, the maternal family and others but concealed from the child [13][14][15]. Sometimes children embark on their own search and find out about the father; in other cases, the father reappears to claim his fatherhood status [10,15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Young Women’s Experiences Following Discovering a Biological Father in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

Nathane-Taulela¹,

Nduna²

2014

TOFAMSJ

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Abstract:In South Africa, it has been established that a high number and growing proportion of children are growing up without fathers in their lives. Research suggests that some children who grow up without their biological fathers seek to know them during adolescence. Some discover them whilst others never do. This paper aimed to investigate experiences of young women who discover their fathers during adolescence.We undertook a qualitative study in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa to understand experiences of children who grow up with absent fathers. We conducted face-to-face, gender-matched interviews with young women aged 15 to 26. Five case studies are presented here. We used Topical structural analysis to examine the narratives.Findings reveal that mother or someone else from the maternal family was instrumental in the disclosure of the father's identity. Four topics that cover the resultant experiences in relation to the father were; a weak or no relationship formed, a positive relationship was formed, the child was disinterested or the mother barred regular visits to the father.This study concludes that the maternal family context, reasons for father absence, how the disclosure happened influence experiences that follow discovering one's father. Forming a positive relationship with the father depended on the child and father's common interest.

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Gatekeeping and its impact on father involvement among Black South Africans in rural KwaZulu-Natal

Makusha

Richter

2015

Culture, Health & Sexuality

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Involved and caring fatherhood contributes to the health and wellbeing of children, women and men. The corollary is also true - men, women and children are affected when fathers are not involved or supportive of their children. Many factors affect fathers' involvement, including women's attitudes, the history and nature of the relationship between mother and father, and the cultural context. This study explores gatekeeping and its impact on father involvement among Black South Africans in rural KwaZulu-Natal. Among married couples, gatekeeping occurs with respect to childcare and housework through women's attempts to validate their maternal identity according to socially and culturally constructed gender roles. Among unmarried, non-resident parents, women control father-child contact and involvement, with mothers and/or their families either facilitating or inhibiting father involvement. In this context, we found that cultural gatekeeping had a huge impact on father involvement, with the non-payment of inhlawulo or lobola regulating father-child involvement. In a country like South Africa, where there is high non-marital fertility and father-child non-residence, future research, parenting and family programmes should focus on strategies that encourage positive paternal involvement as well as maternal and cultural support for father involvement, regardless of parental relationship and residence status.

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

Cited by 10 publications

References 21 publications

Defining absent, unknown and undisclosed fathers in South Africa

Defining absent, unknown and undisclosed fathers in South Africa

Young Women’s Experiences Following Discovering a Biological Father in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

Gatekeeping and its impact on father involvement among Black South Africans in rural KwaZulu-Natal

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