“We Say ‘Mothers’ But Mean ‘Parents’”: Qualitative Perceptions and Experiences With Father Absence Among Curaçaoan, Curaçaoan-Dutch, and Dutch Young People

Abstract

Perceptions and experiences with biological father absence might vary depending on the extent to which father absence constitutes a common family form, like it does in many Caribbean countries. The goal of this qualitative study was to better understand what it means to grow up without a father for Curaçaoan ( n = 19; 15–24 years), Curaçaoan-Dutch ( n = 15; 14–29 years), and Dutch ( n = 16; 16–26 years) young men and women. Findings from thematic analyses of ethically approved in-depth interviews revealed that most interviewees from all three cultural groups perceived no bond with and upbringing from their absent father. The interviewees noted emotional pain, but also mentioned that (m)others compensated for their father’s absence. Dutch interviewees were more negative about their absent father, and both Dutch and Curaçaoan-Dutch interviewees experienced more difficulties with respect to their father’s absence compared with Curaçaoan interviewees. Studying the similarities and differences between perceptions and experiences with father absence enriches our knowledge of what it means to grow up without a father. Doing so from young people’s point of view and across cultures has important practical value by providing a fuller understanding of the meaning of father absence for young people across cultures.

Nonresidential fatherhood and father–child relationships among Curaçaoan and Dutch adolescents and young adults.

“…The absence of a link between experiencing nonresidential fatherhood and Curaçaoan participants’ perceptions of father–child anxious attachment and paternal rejection and monitoring aligns with the expectations and is consistent with previous literature suggesting that the incidence and acceptance of a family structure might be related to its correlates (Erman & Härkönen, 2017; Osinga et al, 2021). Nonresidential fatherhood might not affect perceptions of father–child relationship quality and fathers’ parenting behaviors when this family structure is rather common, such as on Curaçao.…”

“…It appears that variance in avoidant father-child attachment and paternal emotional warmth is explained predominantly by SES and father-child contact frequency than nonresidential fatherhood, and that accounting for other aspects of father-child relationships such as monitoring leaves little variance to be explained by nonresidential fatherhood directly. The importance of SES and father-child contact frequency for fatherchild relationships is in line with previous quantitative studies (e.g., King & Sobolewski, 2006;King et al, 2004) and also emerged from in-depth interviews with Curaçaoan and Dutch young people with nonresident fathers, who were more positive about their relationship when they had more frequent contact (Osinga et al, 2021).…”

“…As such, children with nonresident fathers might feel as "odd ones out" and encounter prejudice and stigmatization which might affect their perceptions of their father-child relationships. To illustrate, Dutch youth with nonresident biological fathers felt different from their peers because of the nonresidence of their fathers and were rather negative about their fathers, their relationships, and their fathers' parenting (Osinga et al, 2021). What is more, Dutch families have relatively weak extended family networks to rely on regarding support and compensation for nonresident fathers, maybe a consequence of the rather individualistic culture in the Netherlands (Yaman et al, 2010).…”

Preprint Non-Residential Fatherhood and Father-Child Relationships Among Curaçaoan and Dutch Adolescents and Young Adults

“…Potential explanations for why father absence did not affect father-child relationship quality among the Curaçaoan participants in our study might come from the already mentioned high incidence and acceptance of this family form on Curaçao, which might imply that father presence versus absence may not influence perceptions of and feelings toward one's father (Erman and Härkönen, 2017). This is in line with in-depth interviews with fatherabsent Curaçaoan young people, who did not seem to hold it against their father that he was not around (Osinga, van Bergen, van Brummen-Girigori, Kretschmer, & Timmerman, 2021).…”

“…Dutch participants who reported more father-child contact also experienced less avoidant attachment, more emotional warmth, and more paternal knowledge, but also less anxious attachment. The importance of contact frequency for evaluations of father-child relationships also emerged from in-depth interviews with father-absent Curaçaoan, Curaçaoan-Dutch, and Dutch young people (Osinga et al, 2021). On the one hand, young people who reported less father-child contact, such as that their father did not make efforts to see them or chose for himself/his new family viewed the relationship with their father negatively.…”