The two studies of this dissertation examined mothers' perspectives of nonresident fathers' involvement in low-income families. The overall goal of these studies was to gain a more comprehensive understanding of nonresident fathers' involvement and its effect on family well-being. In the first study I applied a relatively new methodology, zero-inflated negative binomial regression, to overcome the methodological shortcomings of previous studies. The models (N=1215) examined what factors predicted two aspects, presence and level, of father-child contact and paternal engagement. Different factors were found to influence presence of father-child contact and frequency of contact. Similarly, different factors predicted presence of paternal engagement and level of engagement. Thus, a nonresident father's decision to be involved in his child's life may be a fundamentally different decision than how much he is involved. In addition, parents' positive relationship--romantic relationship and higher quality of relationship--was found to be the major predictor influencing all outcome variables. It appears that a positive co-parental relationship is central to nonresident father involvement. In my second study, I qualitatively examined rural mothers' perceptions of nonresident fathers' involvement (N=83). Specifically, I investigated whether mothers are really "gatekeeping" the father involvement, as suggested by previous research. There was no simple yes/no answer to this question, rather, results suggested that whether a mother acts as a gatekeeper of her children depends on her unique circumstances. Mothers, by at large, wanted the nonresident fathers to be involved in their children's lives and to perform responsible fathering, but mothers' expectations of the fathers' roles may be narrowly defined and, therefore, easily violated. Some mothers did intentionally refuse or limit father-child contact in cases where they believed that father involvement would threaten the safety of their children. In these cases, "gatekeeping" behavior can be viewed as one survival strategy for the mothers. The two studies presented here collectively demonstrate the complexity of non-resident father's involvement and provide insight that will be useful for policy targeted to low-income families. / Graduation date: 2005

Text in English / This study explored the lived experiences of black African men who grew up in absent-father homes. A phenomenological approach and qualitative exploratory design were used. The research participants were recruited in the Pretoria, South Africa through purposive sampling. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse the information. The findings of this study indicate the following: the participants experienced various challenges in growing up in absent father homes. These included financial challenges, feelings of rejection, lack of guidance and protection. They had to rely on their single mothers for provision as well as the extended family and the community for support. These men were self-reliant, persevered and worked hard to achieve their goals in life. Resilience also played a role in making them thrive. They in turn wanted to be good fathers and husbands to their wives and children. Further research on resilient men who grew up in absent-father homes is recommended. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)