Fatherlessness is a serious problem in South Africa and statistics show a high rate of children growing up without parents and particularly without a biological father. An estimated nine million children in South Africa are growing up without a father (Statistics South Africa [StatsSA], 2010). Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) (2010) highlights the systematic disappearance of the traditional family structure among South African families. According to their statistics, only 27% of South African children live with their biological parents, which is a further indication of the increasing number of children in South Africa that come from fatherless homes. In light of the above, the primary goal of the study was to determine teachers‟ perceptions on the impact of fatherlessness on child development. A literature review was undertaken to analyse and describe the effect of fatherlessness on child development from Bronfenbrenner‟s bio-ecosystemic perspective. Secondly, a case study was conducted to qualitatively explore the perceptions of primary school teachers on the effect of fatherlessness on child development. The data was gathered by means of focus group interviews and analysed. The following findings arose from the empirical study: * Fatherlessness has an effect on virtually all facets of child development (emotional, social, moral, spiritual, cognitive and physical). * Fatherlessness implies the absence of a father, whether it is because of death, physical absence (lives and works elsewhere), a lack of involvement (the so-called present-absent father) or that the identity of the father is unknown. * Fatherless learners need special intervention strategies to support their development. * The types of intervention strategies include emotional support, opportunities for male gender role identification and community awareness projects on fatherlessness. * Aside from the material support some teachers offer to the learners, the school does not provide any formal support to fatherless learners. Recommendations are made, in accordance with the findings, in regard to the support of fatherless learners. / MEd (Learner Support), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

In this essay Rudyard Kipling’s novel Kim (1901) is dealt with from a postcolonial perspective, and the aim is to show how three father figures - Colonel Creighton, Mahbub Ali and the lama - individually influence Kim’s education. Furthermore, how their point of view on education and parenting can be used to understand the larger concepts of postcolonialism and the pedagogy of Empire. This essay will argue that Kipling provides three different approaches to education that each can be considered the most suitable for a white orphan in British India during the late nineteenth century. Colonel Creighton is the personification of the imperial mindset, an authoritarian leader who strongly believes in institutions such as schools. Whereas Mahbub Ali, the wild horse from beyond the border and a servant of the Great Game, advocates freedom and a non-institutionalised form of education. Last but not least, the Buddhist lama from Tibet wishes to make Kim his chela and teach him the Wheel of Life. Reading Kipling’s novel Kim helps us to create an awareness of how the world order has changed during the decades and also gives us the opportunity to look at our present time in different lights.

Der Vater stellt eine gewichtige gesellschaftliche Größe dar. Er ist neben der Mutter der bedeutendste Sozialisationsagent der frühen Kindheit. Er ist der Zeugende, wird Vater zu dem Zeitpunkt, zu dem die Frau das Kind zur Welt bringt. Eine soziale Rolle ,,Vaterschaft" entwickelt sich hieraus jedoch erst dadurch, dass er bestimmte Aufgaben, die sich im Zusammenhang mit dem Kind ergeben, erfüllt. Die Ausführungen nähern sich diesem überaus vielschichtigen Komplex ,,Vater" dermaßen, dass das Zusammenwirken von Vater und Kind als Interaktion aufgefasst wird und die Bedeutung des Vaters als Modell für das Kind dargestellt wird. ,,Christliche Erziehung" und ,,Rituale" sind die beiden anderen Dimensionen dieser Arbeit und erfahren durch das Thema ,,Vater" ihre inhaltliche Zuspitzung. Eine empirische Untersuchung von Vätern zu diesen Themen mittels Fragebogen ergänzt die theoretische Perspektive. Die vorliegende Arbeit hat das Ziel, die drei angedeuteten Spannungsfelder aufzugreifen, zusammenzudenken und als praktisch-theologische Arbeit einen Beitrag zur Reflexion und Förderung christlicher Vaterschaft zu leisten. / The father represents an important figure in society. Together with the mother he is the most important socialization-agent of early childhood. He is involved in the act of procreation and finally becomes father at the time his wife gives birth to their child. However, a social role "paternity" develops only through the fact that he fulfills certain tasks which are connected with the child. The dissertation approaches the extremely multilayered and complex subject "father" as follows: the cooperation between father and child is understood as interaction. The father´s role as model for the child is described. "Christian education" and "rituals" with regard to the topic "father" are the two other dimensions of this dissertation. An empirical survey of fathers about these topics by means of a questionnaire supplements the theoretical perspective. This Master-Dissertation would like to deal with the three mentioned areas, and - as practical-theological thesis - contribute to the reflection and promotion of Christian paternity. / Practical Theology / M.Th. (Practical theology)

published_or_final_version / Mental Health / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This study was predicated on the belief that a father brings something unique to the family, thus, making irreplaceable contributions to the life of a child. Fathers are unique in that they provide something different from mothers. They are irreplaceable because when they are absent, children are said to suffer emotionally, intellectually, socially, and behaviorally. The contributions of fathers to a child's well being cannot be fully replaced by better programming, ensuring child support programs, or even by well-intentioned mentoring programs. A review of literature relevant to delinquency and adolescent behavioral and academic success revealed that there may be a correlation between a male role-model and the teaching of self-control and socially appropriate behaviors. Indeed, much of what the large body of research pertaining to fatherhood reveals is that, compared to children raised in two-parent homes, children who grow up without their fathers have significantly worse outcomes, on average, on almost every measure of well being (Horn, 2002). In addition, an understanding of the factors that may influence delinquent behaviors, in particular within the family unit, can better equip parents and educators to support those who may be exhibiting the beginning signs of delinquent behavior. This study was designed to determine the influence of, or correlation between, juvenile delinquency and the presence or absence of a father-figure in a child's life. Responses made on the Delinquency Check List between two sample sets, delinquent and non-delinquent adolescents, were examined. The study attempted to determine if delinquent activity among adolescents was differentiated by the absence or presence of a father-figure in a child's life. This study also investigated the frequency and severity of delinquent activities between adolescents in the determined sample groups.

This creative nonfiction dissertation is a memoir that probes the complex life and death of the author’s father, who became addicted in his late forties to crack cocaine. While the primary concerns are the reasons and ways in which the father changed from a family man into a drug addict, the memoir is also concerned with themes of family life, childhood, and grief. After his father’s death, the author moves to Las Vegas and experiences similar addiction issues, which he then explores to help shed light on his father’s problems. To enrich the investigation, the author draws from eclectic sources, including news articles, literature, mythology, sociology, religion, music, TV, interviews, and inherited objects from his father. In dissecting the life of his father, the author simultaneously examines broader issues surrounding modern fatherhood, such as cultural expectations, as well as the problems of emptiness, isolation, and spiritual deficiency.

Sea Stories is a collection of creative nonfiction essays centered around the growth of a young woman through her experiences with water and ships. The pieces trace the origins of the narrator's tie to water from a childhood involving boating with her dad to sailing a brigantine across the Pacific Ocean and then a six-year career as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard. The narrator's relationship with her father, predominantly viewed through their shared intimacy with water, is a base theme for the whole collection. Other themes explored in individual essays include reckoning expectations with reality, explorations of the self in and against a group, gender dynamics in military service, and the influence of fiction on life. Sea Stories shows that what we think we know, what we may have only imagined, and on the water, that self-constructed reality can be a dangerous thing.

La littérature québécoise de l’époque contemporaine semble être hantée par les données de l’histoire, chargée du reflet de la réalité, mais aspirant à la délivrance tant du peuple que de l’écrivain ou du texte lui-même. Le couple écriture et pouvoir acquiert dans ce sens le statut du thème prédominant, traduisant le conflit entre l’opinion progressiste et les différentes instances contraires à toute liberté, à l’indépendance, au progrès…Des conditions étouffantes et des autorités opiniâtres jalonnent le combat salvateur de l’écrivain qui choisit l’espace linguistique et textuel pour défaire la stagnation et le passéisme. Le contexte de la Révolution Tranquille inspire en effet aux romanciers québécois un souffle engagé, suscite la question du nationalisme ou d’identité et installe la révolution dans la littérature comme thème et comme style d’écriture. Des personnages cyniques et révoltés, un langage qui bafoue les figures d’autorité, des scènes qui parodient la réalité ; la fiction annonce la déchéance institutionnelle, le rejet du conformisme, de la domination et des principes désuets. De même, la forme du texte, le schéma narratif, le langage employé s’insurgent contre les canons et la tradition. Un vocabulaire nouveau, une structure remodelée, tons et procédés agencés pour la littérarité et une autre langue qui perce et qui se défend…. L’écriture qui insiste sur l’idée d’inventivité et d’originalité, qui démontre l’emprise de l’écrivain sur la réalité est en somme conçue comme l’instrument de réaliser l’apothéose de l’intellectuel et le salut du peuple, comme la preuve ainsi que la voie d’accéder à la modernité. / Quebec literature of modern time seems to be haunted by the data of history, responsible for the reflection of reality, but longing for deliverance of the people as that of the writer or the text itself. The couple writing and power acquires in this sense the status of the predominant theme, reflecting the conflict between progressive opinion and the various bodies contrary to any freedom, independence, progress ... scorching conditions and stubborn authorities punctuate the fight savior of the writer who chooses linguistic and textual space to defeat the stagnation and traditionalism. The context of the Quiet Revolution inspired Quebecker novelists indeed a committed breath, raises the question of nationalism and identity, and installs the revolution in literature as theme and writing style. Cynical and rebellious characters, a language that violates the authority figures, scenes that parody the reality and fiction announces the institutional deprivation, rejection of conformity, domination and obsolete principles. Similarly, the forms of text, the narrative outline, the used language are railing against the canons and tradition. New vocabulary, a remodeled structure, tones and processes designed to literariness and another language that pierces and defends itself… Writing that emphasizes the idea of inventiveness and originality, which demonstrates the influence of the writer in reality is in fact designed as an instrument to achieve the apotheosis of the intellectual and the salvation of people, as the evidence and the way of access to modernity.

The diploma thesis deals with communication between the child and his/her father. The first part defines basic theoretical terms and summarizes the results of previous research trying to explain the principles of child language acquisition and outline the central features of child-directed speech. The theoretical part is based on information from scientific publications that suggest possible causes of differences between the father's and the mother's child- directed speech. The second part of the thesis consists of individual case studies focusing on the analysis of the audio recordings of natural father-child communication. All participating families signed an informed consent. The recordings were transcribed according to the transcription format of the CHAT system, which is a part of the CHILDES acquisition database. The chapters concerning communication strategies and selected pragmatic, lexical, and syntactic features of the father's child-oriented speech were compared to the findings in the scientific literature. Due to a lack of research results in the Czech language environment, mainly Slovak publications were used for the comparison. Keywords communication, father, child, father's child-oriented speech