O presente estudo teve como objetivo conhecer e analisar as vivências e os significados em torno da paternidade, durante a adolescência, para homens que vivenciaram esse fenômeno, buscando identificar os significados atribuídos por esses homens a essa vivência, reconhecer em suas vivências relativas à sexualidade e à reprodução como se operam as relações de gênero e distinguir como percebem as influências familiares frente ao processo de gravidez e paternidade adolescentes. A pesquisa foi realizada com sete homens na faixa etária de 21 a 34 anos de idade que foram pais entre 14 e 19 anos, moradores de bairros periféricos de Cuiabá-MT, no período de março a maio de 2004. Considerando o objeto de estudo, foi utilizado o recurso da pesquisa qualitativa empregando a técnica de história de vida para realizar o levantamento de dados. Ao final da coleta de informações, tínhamos aproximadamente 200 folhas de informações que foram trabalhadas com a aplicação da técnica de análise de conteúdo baseada na proposta de Romeu Gomes. Com a técnica de análise de conteúdo, identificamos três núcleos temáticos que são: paternidade na adolescência: vivências e significados atribuídos; adolescência: vivências e exercício da sexualidade e reprodução a partir das relações de gênero; influências familiares nas vivências relativas aos processos da gravidez e paternidade na adolescência. Após a análise dos dados, concluimos que o exercício da paternidade por adolescentes conforma-se como uma experiência positiva, plena de emoções, e que, se vivenciada em sua plenitude, cultivando os afetos, vivenciando o cuidar, o educar e o tocar resultará em uma relação transformadora para jovens em processo de desenvolvimento. / The author aimed at learning about the meanings of fatherhood during adolescence for men who had this experience. This study looked at identifying the meanings for men who had this experience, the meanings they give to this phenomenon, identifying their experiences related to sexuality and reproduction as well as their gender relations and how they perceive the family influences regarding the pregnancy process and fatherhood. Seven men from 21 to 34 years of age who were fathers from 14 to 19 years of age participated in the study. They lived in a suburb of the city of Cuiabá-MT. Data were collected from March to May, 2004. Considering that the object of this study was used as a resource of a qualitative research, the author used the life history technique in order to collect data. In the end of the data collection process, the author had 200 pages of information that were analyzed based on the content analysis technique proposed by Romeu Gomes. The content analysis resulted in three thematic groups: fatherhood in adolescence: experiences and meanings; adolescence: experiences, sexuality and reproduction considering gender relations; family influences in experiences related to pregnancy and fatherhood in adolescence. Findings showed that the fatherhood in adolescence can be a positive experience, full of emotions if completely experienced, enabling men to experience the care, education and touch resulting in a relation of transformation for adolescents who are in a developing process.

This work focuses on the question of contemporary forms of fatherhood and thus responds to the current discussion about the greater involvement of men in childcare and domestic work. This ongoing discussion is closely associated with the equal opportunities for men and women. However, existing research shows that in most czech families the traditional gender division of family roles, which disadvantages women both within family and work life and limits men in fulfilling their parentel role, still prevails. The concept of active fatherhood presents man as an equally competent parent as a woman who is actively and more equally involved in childcare and domestic work. Poromoting this concept should help to eliminate inequalities mentioned above. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic, in support of active fatherhood, has conducted sociological research "The Forms of Paternity in the Czech Republic". The qualitative research carried out in this work is based on the research areas of the qualitative part of the mentioned research, specifically the part focused on the involvement of fathers in childcare and their ideas about the father's role. Conducted research tries to provide a more complete picture of the form of fatherhood through the inclusion of women to my research. The...

The purpose of the study was to explore the needs, attitudes and beliefs of adolescent fathers regarding fatherhood in Limpopo Province and to recommend health promotion initiatives that will address the unique needs of this group to enable them to manage this phase of their lives effectively. The study was conducted in Unit F clinic situated in the Lepelle Nkumpi, a local municipality located in the Capricorn District. Data collection methods: The study utilised qualitative, exploratory and descriptive approach. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to recruit adolescent fathers in Lepelle Nkumpi municipality to participate. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews to allow open and free expression. Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed. The population of the study was adolescent fathers between 13 and 19 years of age belonging to the Bapedi ethnic group, whose babies’ mothers were also adolescents. Participants’ beliefs and attitudes regarding fatherhood were highlighted. Their unique needs were identified and recommendations made for the health and social development practitioners on measures to address their needs. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)

Women have been the focus of a great deal of research on opiate addiction and treatment because their gender is assumed to matter for their experiences in the drug world. Much of this has focused on women's experiences as mothers and caregivers. While men are often included as subjects in research on opiate addiction and treatment, their experiences as gendered beings are rarely analyzed. This research foregrounds men's gendered experiences as fathers, family members, and partners while in methadone maintenance treatment. Using data from addiction history interviews with 33 opiate-dependent men recruited from a single methadone clinic in Arizona, I find that men assign considerable significance to their family relationships. The men interviewed report that their experiences as fathers, grandfathers, sons, grandsons, brothers, husbands, and boyfriends both motivate them to seek methadone treatment for opiate addiction, and cause stress that sometimes pushes them to use or relapse on opiates. Given the importance of these men's family relationships, I argue that the marginalized masculinity of impoverished, drug-dependent men includes an ethic of care. Additionally, I argue that counselors in methadone clinics should consider men in the context of their family relationships in order to provide better treatment to men struggling to recover from opiate addiction.

The counseling experience has shown that a majority of problems that endanger marital and family functioning results from an absent father. The problem of an absent father and his important role in the upbringing of his children had already become well-known. The reason for this is that the welfare of children has declined dramatically compared to children of earlier generations. It is the negative effects and spiritual consequences of an uninvolved father, as well as the subsequent poor relations between fathers and their children that were cause for concern. The perplexing question is why the problem of the absent father is treated so indifferently, given the awareness of its scope and significance. The church, who are to be the light for the world and who are to make the family its core priority, is crucial in taking a leading role in addressing the key reasons for the crisis the family in Western society is facing. This study wants to address the problem of the absent father from a theological perspective. / Prof. W.J. Hattingh

The aim of this research is to consider family as a kin network of exchange and to show that manhood and fatherhood is a cultural value transacted within this network. It attempts to also show that such value is variably negotiated as identity is performed in relation to ideological constructs of space. To do this, the physical and ideological space to which kin belong is explored as a cultural borderland, suggesting that men/fathers are able to exceed bounded constructs of identity while also being subject to them. In particular, I try to illuminate some of the dynamics that impact on men’s/fathers’ negotiation of discursive codes of intra-cultural sameness and difference to be valued not only as men/fathers, but as good at being men/fathers. Within this context, some of the symbols of identity that enable a man/father to be good at being a man/father are considered. The ethnography highlights the ways in which men/fathers are able to access and mediate symbolic resources, showing how these processes impact on their positioning on a continuum of self and worth. In this regard, performances of providing in relation to performances of the social and genetic imbrications of kinship constitute a key focus.

The transition to parenthood has been noted to be a significant milestone in an individual’s life that can have varying effects on the marital relationship. The marital relationship has further been noted to have implications on father involvement with children, where such involvement allows for better health and well being of the child. Sexual intimacy has been noted to be a significant aspect of a marital relationship that has an impact on marital satisfaction. As such the aim of this study was to explore father’s experience and understanding of fatherhood as well as their perceptions of the marital relationship post birth of the first child. The marital relationship was explored through understanding how the birth experience and presence of the baby influence fathers’ perceptions of their wife’s desirability’s, of marital intimacy and how sexual intimacy fits into the relationship post birth of the baby. The study consisted of a qualitative design and eight fathers were interviewed using a semi structured interview schedule. The data was then analysed using thematic content analysis. Findings suggested that whilst fathers reported a distinct decline in sexual intimacy there was no decline in marital satisfaction. Decline in marital satisfaction may have been buffered against, as fathers seemed to prepare for the birth of their child and held realistic expectations of the adjustments that would be required post birth of the baby. In addition, their view of intimacy had broadened to include sensuality where spending alone time with their wife and communication were seen as equally significant to sexual intimacy. The results from the study further indicated that fathers are becoming more involved in their parental role. In this regard fathers tended to create an individual space between them and their baby. This finding is in direct contrast to psychodynamic theories which discuss the father as involved in a triadic relationship with his child and hence relating only through the mother.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This research explored the role of men in efforts by the Malawi Ministry of Health to promote women’s reproductive and maternal health in accordance with Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number five, i.e. to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters between 1990 and 2015. The study was conceptualised in 2011 in an effort to contribute to the national strategy to reduce maternal mortality in Malawi, and it was done in the particular cultural context of a matrilineal marriage and kinship system in Ntchisi district, Malawi. At the inception of this study, the highest prevalence of maternal deaths in the country was reported in seven districts, including Ntchisi. A common understanding in public health circles worldwide is that male involvement in reproductive and maternal health activities is an important factor in achieving the above MDG goal. But historically, research on maternal health in Malawi has focused mostly on women and children. Consequently there are only a small number of relevant previous studies or extant literature to draw on for the current investigation. Malawi’s reproductive and maternal health policies largely lack locally-informed research on men and masculinities. My study aimed to explore the relationship between local constructions of masculinity, fatherhood and reproductive health in Malawi among Chichewa speakers who live in Ntchisi. It was guided by the social constructionist theory which recognises the role of the impersonal features of the social world like cultural, personal and group influences in the construction of ideas, knowledge and facts. In this study I adopted an inductive approach to learning in which the participants were the main players in describing and explaining social phenomena as they are constructed and experienced in the research site. I conducted multiple in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 53 married men, key informant interviews with eight local leaders and traditional birth attendants, as well as focus group discussions with 12 married women who had given birth multiple times. Data analysis involved intensive scrutiny of transcripts to determine prevailing themes. Listening to the tapes and re-reading these transcripts enabled me to detect patterns and categorise different practices and constructions, to find associations between these practices and constructions of concepts. Malawi’s men are considered to be the traditional gatekeepers of maternal and social ideals. Therefore, as elders in a clan or as husbands, their prompt decisions can facilitate the access of their spouses to maternal and reproductive health services. Men as heads of households and decision makers can also support and enable their wives to follow the recommended maternal health counsel. However, men’s “lack of involvement” is not the principal reason why there is increasing maternal challenges among child-bearing women in Ntchisi. Although men are not entirely free of the blame for contributing to the status quo, they already work hard towards ensuring positive pregnancy outcomes for their spouses. The study found that husbands in Ntchisi have long been involved in pregnancy and child care. The study shows that pregnancy is regarded as a liminal state or as a kind of “sickness”. Male involvement in pregnancy means the man should take over the routine household chores of drawing water, fetching firewood and cooking, among other things. However, men construct their involvement in reproductive and maternal health matters in the framework of masculinity and femininity as dictated by the commonly held beliefs of a matrilineal Chewa grouping. The study showed that masculinities are constructed within the context of a matrilineal system, which has nonetheless been changing largely due to the colonial impact of the United Kingdom, the related influences of Christian and westernised social ideals and an education system based on the British model. Men’s gendered practices in reproduction and parenting have foundations in the initiation rites of the secret Nyau societies where the masculine ideals of sexuality and secrecy are inculcated. This research cannot be generally extrapolated to the wider population in Malawi but it is a starting point for understanding the responses of matrilineal Chichewa speaking men to reproductive and maternal health matters. Further and broader research on the construction of fatherhood and masculinity is needed in Malawi to make it possible for public health policy on reproductive and maternal health to be more culturally informed.

This thesis examines working-class fatherhood and masculinities in post-war Scotland, the history of which is almost non-existent. Scottish working-class fathers have more commonly been associated with the ‘public sphere’ of work, politics and male leisure pursuits and presented negatively in public and official discourses of the family. Using twenty-five newly conducted oral history interviews with men who became fathers during the period 1970-1990, as well as additional source materials, this thesis explores the ways in which their everyday lives, feelings and experiences were shaped by becoming and being fathers. In examining change and continuities in both the representations and lived experiences of fatherhood during a period of important social, economic, political and demographic change, it contributes new insights to the histories of fatherhood, gender, family, and everyday lives in Scotland, and in Britain more widely. It argues that ideas and norms surrounding fatherhood changed significantly, and were highly contested, during this period. Fathers were both celebrated as ‘newly’ involved in family life, signified by rising attendance at childbirth and increased practical and visible participation in childcare, but also increasingly scrutinised and deemed to be losing their ‘traditional’ breadwinning and authoritarian roles. Although there were significant continuities, a combination of factors caused these shifts, including the changing structure and composition of the labour market, deindustrialisation, the increasing participation of mothers in employment and second-wave feminism. Shifting ideas about gender relations were also accompanied by changing understandings of parent-child relationships and child welfare, in the wake of rising divorce and the growth of one-parent families. In highlighting the complexity and diversity of fatherhood and masculinity amongst working-class men, by placing their relationships, roles, status and identities as fathers at the forefront, and by speaking to men themselves, this thesis adds an important and neglected insight to the Scottish family and provides a fresh perspective on men’s gendered identities. Fathers were central to, rather than on the margins of, family and home life, and fatherhood was, in turn central to men’s identities and everyday lives.

The family has been seen as playing an important part in children’s lives and their development. This is because families are seen to be the primary sources of individual development and thus should be seen as the building blocks of communities. Families serve as the main source of emotional, social and material support for most individuals. Thus, stable family environments are acknowledged to provide a fertile environment for children’s wellbeing and for them to grow up to be healthy responsible adults. Most South African children are raised by a single mother or by their maternal grandparents. Research conducted shows that South African Families face many challenges, and these challenges could be the source for high rates of absent fathers. Poverty has been identified to be one of the challenges that affect families in South Africa. Some researchers argue that poverty and inequality continue to undermine the family as an institution by reducing its effectiveness in realizing the roles of its members in society. Therefore poverty puts a burden on families and specifically on the main providers or ‘breadwinners’. Poverty in South Africa is mainly caused by lack of income, which is due to the high unemployment rates with little initiatives to reduce unemployment rates. The research was conducted qualitatively and specifically used narrative inquiry as a method of gathering data. In-depth, one-on-one narrative interviews were conducted in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the consequences of having an absent father and the strategies that young women adopted in order to deal with the consequences. Eight interviews with females aged from 18 – 21 years were conducted in Soweto. The findings reveal that the participants adopted both negative and positive coping strategies. Positive coping strategies include, creative writing, keeping a diary, maintaining a positive attitude, living a different life and speaking to others. Negative coping strategies included withdrawing from others, denial of a need of a father, self-blame, silence and defensive humor. More research is needed on how young people with absent fathers cope, paying into consideration issues of personality, culture and socialization.