Positive Attributes of Never-Married Single Mothers and Fathers: Why Gender Matters and Applications for Family Therapists

Abstract

Utilizing a feminist framework, this study examined societal perceptions of strengths of never-married custodial single mothers and fathers. Qualitative responses were gathered from 873 participants. The results of the thematic analysis suggested that the positive attributes that participants assign to never-married single mothers and fathers appeared to be more strongly influenced by gender than by single parent status. The results further suggested that participants' level of expectations was much lower for single fathers when compared with single mothers and that, overall, single mothers were held to a higher standard by participants. These findings have significant clinical implications for family therapists.

Schools' Attitudes Towards Single Parents: Experimental Evidence

“…Yet, we find the opposite. One potential explanation for this result is that the person responsible for admissions did not draw any inferences about why a given person happened to be a single parent, while she/he perceives single mothers as having better internal qualities, as in Maier and McGeorge (2014).…”

“…Recently, Maier and McGeorge (2014) explore the variations in the perceptions of positive attributes of never-married single mothers and fathers. From the qualitative responses of 873 participants, they find that the participants' level of expectations was significantly lower for single fathers than for single mothers and the latter were held to a higher standard.…”

Patriarchy and Citizenship in India: Rethinking Lone Motherhood through the Lens of Socio-legal and Policy Framework

“…47 Kandiyoti Deniz (1988) Bargaining with patriarchy, Gender and Society 2(3) 274-290 48 Spivak Gayatri Chakraborty (1988) Can the Subalterns Speak? Die Philosophin, 14(27) 42-58 49 Lorde Audre (1984) Sister Outsider, Crossing Press, New York p. 123 50 Horowitz F (2004) Resistance as a site of empowerment: The Journey away from maternal sacrifice, in Mother Outlaws: Theories and Practices of empowered mothering, edited by Andrea O'Reilly, Women's Press, Toronto 43-58 p. 55 51 O'Reilly Andrea (2016) Matricentric Feminism: Theory, Activism, and Practice, Demeter Press, Ontario, Canada…”

An autoethnographic exploration of a lone‐mother trainee systemic therapist

“…Thematic analyses studies (Maier & McGeorge, 2014; DeJean et al, 2012) have noticed that gender decides either positive or negative perceptions of lone‐parenthood. Better parenting was expected from mothers.…”