Prof Mzi Nduna Department of psychology School of Human and - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Prof Mzi Nduna

Department of psychology

School of Human and Community Development

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The Father Connections study team

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• Dr Mambwe Kasese-Hara
• Prof Rachel Jewkes

Dr Yandisa Sikweyiya Prof Grace Khunou

• Post graduate students
• Livhuhane Manyatshe
• Tidimalo Padi
• Thandeka Mdletshe
• Polite Chauke
• Naledi Selebano

 According to the SAIRR 40% of South African

children grow up without a father

 42% (in 1996) and 48% (in 2009) had an absent, living father



Holborn, L. (2011). Fractured families: A crisis for South Africa. SAIIR Fast Facts, 4(April), 2.

 Prof Makiwane’s report from Mpumalanga



Makiwane, M. B., Makoae, M., Botsis, H., & Vawda, M. (2012). A baseline study on families in

• Mpumalanga. Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria: Human and Social Development,

Population Health, Health Systems and Innovation, CeSTii.

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Proportion of children (0-9yrs) that co-reside with parents 2002 2009 Father is not part of the households 29.25 32.73 Mother and father are not part of the household 31.97 32.34 61.22 65.07

 Absent

 Deceased

 Absent but living

 Physical and emotional absence  Not co-residing with the child/non-resident

fathers

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

Unknown father

 By whom – mother, child, father



Undisclosed

 By whom? Usually mother or maternal

family



Unknown number of children with an unknown father or undisclosed paternity

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• This study investigated unresolved and

unknown paternal identity among families in Alexandra Township in South Africa

• 54 guardians who had children

registered at the Centre completed face- to-face, one-on-one interviews

• descriptive and bivariate analyses
• 31.5% of the participants reported

that they lived with a child who had unresolved paternal identity

• A higher proportion of respondents

who reported unresolved paternity

• received financial support outside

the home (97% vs. 66%)

• also reported needing the Centre to

provide them with psychosocial support

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• 40 young men and women aged 16 to 22 were

interviewed following a semi-structured guide in the Eastern Cape Province

• Our findings show that an interest in father

identity was motivated by harsh circumstances in the maternal home, notably

• when financial difficulties, exclusion from

critical decision making and bullying by non-biological siblings were felt

• The search for father identity was pursued in

solitude fearing elders’ response

• Some thought that it would be interpreted as

being disrespectful and ungrateful to ask ‘such a question’

• thers worried that they might be victimized
• r, worse, thrown out by their mothers or

maternal guardians

• We present accounts of accidental disclosures by

strangers and also inadvertent involvement in an incestuous relationship

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• This paper explores the strategic use of

silence in narratives of absent fathers collected from the Mpumalanga province

• 20, one-hour, one-on-one, fieldworker-

respondent, semi structured interviews were conducted with women aged 15–26 years old

• Interviews were gender-matched, audio-

recorded, transcribed verbatim and translated into English

• Thematic, and some elements of discourse

analysis, were used to analyse the data

• findings show that motivations for

upholding silence within the home were

• to show respect and gratitude
• avoid upsetting a bothersome mother
• avoiding speaking with a chronically ill

mother lest this made her condition worse and recovery difficult

 Children would like to know their fathers

• 1. Nduna, M (accepted). Growing up without

a father and a pursuit for the right surname.

• 2. Langa, M (accepted). Meaning making in

growing up without a father- narratives of young.



The Open Family Studies Journal: A peer reviewed open access journal

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 Findings from three focus group discussions

with 30 mothers and guardians, aged 25 to 35

 Disclosure of father identity was difficult

when there was

 denial of paternity  the mother got pregnant by a married man  the whereabouts of the father was unknown

 Fear of betraying the trust of family members

also prevented disclosure

 The child  Current partner / husband

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 8, one-on-one in-depth interviews were

conducted with women aged 33 to 60



thematic analysis was used to describe first-hand accounts and the essence of the phenomenon for the participants

 The fleeting discussions that did at times

• ccur around the father indicate that

disclosure is a fluid and an ongoing process



there were broader challenges for mothers on

 how to go about the disclosure

 what to say to the child  at what age it would be

appropriate to start discussing the father

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topical structural analysis of case study narratives collected using face-to-face, semi- structured interviews conducted



The study was based in Butterworth in the Eastern Cape.



findings show that denial and disputes of pregnancy by the participants’ boyfriends took different forms.



The men implicated temporised by expressing disbelief about the news of the pregnancy

 relocating and rejecting responsibility



Participants believed that denial of their pregnancy was a punishment for being careless, not taking contraceptives and

falling pregnant.



Constant worry from the unresolved paternity left the participants distressed



Resolution in most cases was not, as expected, followed by the man honouring payment of compensation

 Mothers do not think ignorance is bliss

 They need assistance with structural barriers to disclose

 INTER-SECTIONAL WORK: Lessen gender-based

violence against women in intimate relationships

 DEPARTMENT OF WOMEN: Economic Empowerment:

lessen women’s economic dependence on their male partners in order for paternity disclosure to be safe

 CIVIL SOCIETY: Build parent’s communication skills –

when and how to disclose

 DoHA – MIGRATION: Assist women and children in

tracking the alleged father

 DoH- MCWH: strengthen family planning

 Assist women and children with DNA paternity testing to

resolve paternity disputes

 Quantitative studies  Research from the absent father’s perspective  Nduna, M., & Nathane-Taulela, M. (submitted). Discovering

• ne’s biological father: Findings from narratives of young women

from the Mpumalanga province in South Africa. Psychology. University of the Witwatersrand.

 Lesch, E. (Accepted). Constraining Constructions: Low-

income Fathers’ Perceptions of fathering their Adolescent

• Daughters. The Open Family Studies Journal, Special Issue: Father

Connections in South Africa(Forthcoming).

 Community engagement with science  Inform community-based interventions  Highlight policy relevance

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