The purpose of this thesis is to explore the experiences of single fathers and their roles as primary caregiver to their children as men in society adopting traditionally feminine roles. There was one primary research question explored: How do single father's experience parenthood? This is explored through four sub questions and discussions about daily life and childrearing alone; childcare and work and family conflicts; use of services and support networks; and of particular interest, gender and the influence of masculinity. Through an analysis of interviews with 14 fathers of varying class status, age, education, and time spent as a single father, I captured broadly the ways in which these men maneuver their childrearing with their lives, and how they are challenging, yet still upholding aspects of hegemonic masculinity. By exploring how these fathers maneuver childrearing as a male in society I assist in gaining insight and understanding to this population that has been previously overlooked in academic research.

My Father’s Daughter, part bildungsroman, part family drama, is the story of Tabitha Robinson, a successful writer on a hit prime-time teen drama in Los Angeles who is called home to northern New York to say good-bye to her dying father. Tabitha and her father, Ray, a retired military solider and Southern Baptist minister, were once quite close. As a girl, Tabitha idolized her father despite his long absences and philandering ways. In turn, Ray favored Tabitha and encouraged her ambition. Their relationship changes however, when Ray divorces Tabitha’s mother and remarries. Already strained, the relationship is threatened further when Ray, after battling cancer, suddenly sees the error of his ways and attempts to reform Tabitha as well.

The following is a book of poetry, born of the chaos in leaving home and discovering loneliness within the confines of my own body. Sustaining a mixed vernacular, that of the rural Midwest, the Bible, medicine, and the strange, this book seeks a sympathy with illness and with those who suffer its symptoms. I drew much upon my childhood in particular the years spent going on rounds with my father at the local hospital.

Thirty-nine fathers were observed to determine if they interact differently with their child as a result of the child's sex or birth ordinal position.Results indicated that fathers expected more of their sons, had a higher readiness of explanation for them, and criticized them more often. Fathers gave more praise, physical contact and supportive behavior to their daughters. Birth ordinal effects paralleled and interacted wiith the child's sex.Stepwise regression yielded a mean value of 44.16 in explaining the overall variance in dependent variables. It emphasized the number of hours the father spent with his child and family, the father's age, education, and occupation. In comparison to these, the child's sex and ordinal position emerged as having little importance.

Scholars confirm that a huge proportion of black South African men are not participating in their children's upbringing, as a result, children face various challenges that impede their wellbeing. This study is of the view that there is still a need for further investigations to explore the effects of fatherlessness on children's wellbeing and to gain new perspectives on father absence within the context of black societies in South Africa. With that in mind, this study aimed to explore the impact of fatherlessness on the psychosocial wellbeing of young black South African men. The objectives of this study included investigating the following: (1) young men's experiences of growing up without their biological fathers; (2) the psychosocial effects of growing up without a biological father on young black men; (3) the ways in which fatherlessness shapes the development of a gendered (masculine) identity among young black men; and (4) to understand the ways in which fatherlessness shapes young men's participation in cultural practices that facilitate their transition to manhood (e.g. ulwaluko). A qualitative approach research approach was adopted for this study. Semi-structured interviews (face to face) were used for data collection, and both purposive sampling and snowball sampling methods were used to recruit participants for this study. The interviews were conducted with twenty-four (24) young black men (participants) who shared their experiences of growing up without the presence of their biological fathers. These participants resided in Langa township (Western Cape). The interviews were conducted during the third wave of Covid-19, so all the protocols to safeguard the spread of Covid-19 were observed. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. It further drew on the psychosocial developmental theory by Erik Erickson (1963) as a lens through which it reflects on young men's developmental processes and the ways in which such development is shaped by the absence of biological fathers. The findings suggest that many of the participants' conceptions of the roles of fathers were in line with the traditional views of fathers as financial providers, protectors, and disciplinarians. The results of this study also gave insight into challenges faced by young black men who grew up without their biological fathers. These challenges were related to their cultural identity, which then affected their capacity to build intimate relationships, affected them when they were undergoing ulwaluko, and affected their constructions of masculinity. Fatherlessness was also shown to have a negative impact on the education and psychosocial wellbeing of the young black men in the study.

In recent decades, conceptualizations of fatherhood have changed from a breadwinner ideal to fathers as caregivers. Despite this shift, fathers’ involvement with their children, on average, remains less than mothers’ involvement. This study examines the role of fathers’ gender roles (i.e., gender-role attitudes and provider-role attitudes) and work conditions (i.e., flexibility, supervisor and coworker support) as they independently, and in combination, predict father involvement with infants. Using a sample of 77 working class fathers, a series of path analyses were conducted with both mothers’ and fathers’ report of fathers’ involvement in fun and instrumental caregiving tasks. Results revealed that fathers with more egalitarian gender-role beliefs were more involved in fun tasks as reported by fathers, while fathers with more egalitarian provider-role beliefs were more involved in fun tasks as reported by mothers. Coworker support was associated with more instrumental and fun involvement. Fathers’ beliefs about gender-roles and their workplace flexibility interacted to predict their involvement in fun tasks, with more traditional fathers being more involved under conditions of high workplace flexibility. DocuSign Envelope ID: 5FB77C96-7C55-433C-B99A-496205649C1F iv Fathers’ provider-role beliefs interacted with their flexibility to predict mothers’ reports of their involvement in fun tasks, with more traditional fathers being more involved under conditions of high workplace flexibility. Thus, workplace flexibility may be an important predictor of father involvement for more traditional fathers, who would otherwise be less involved than their egalitarian counterparts. This study underscores the importance of supportive work conditions to increase involvement in fathers who would otherwise be less involved.

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