Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy: Public Management (Peacebuilding), Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / The majority of South African children are growing up in households where the father is dead or absent. As a result, unless there is some other father figure in their lives, they do not experience fathering directly and so have a limited education in what it means to be a father. Given the extent of violence of various forms throughout the country, there is an urgent need to bring up children who are educated in values such as nonviolence and who will model and impart such values to their own children. The overall aim of this research is to investigate how to build the capacity of young men to be responsible, loving and nonviolent fathers. The research design included three components (exploration of the experiences and attitudes of young men regarding their own fathers), action research (in the form of devising a training programme in responsible, loving and nonviolent fathering, and implementing it with three groups of young men) and evaluation (of the effects of the training on attitudes which, it is hoped, will translate into positive fathering behaviour in the longer term). The short term outcome of the training indicates that changes in attitude in positive directions did take place for a significant minority of the trainees and suggests that training programmes of this type can be socially beneficial. / D

Using Q-technique, 15 fathers of children diagnosed with severe learning disabilities, sorted 41 statements concerning use of their potential formal and informal social network members. Additional demographic and descriptive data, and scores from the Perceived Social Support scales (Family, Friends), were used to analyze the possible effects of a number of variables on fathers' sorting patterns. Fathers reported their spouse as their primary source of support/information, and child's immediate school personnel as their secondary resource. Subdividing fathers into perceived-High and perceived-Low support groups indicated that the Low subgroup reported their spouse as their most significant social contact; also, that contacting School Board personnel was a somewhat more usual behaviour than for the High subgroup. As spousal support was clearly primary, fathers were also subgrouped according to their wives' employment, and thus their availability for support. Comparisons indicated fathers with working wives were more likely to report going to their informal intimate network (family, friends, spouse's family) and, to be notably more active in contacting various school personnel involved in their children's school difficulties. Fathers with at-home wives appeared to follow more traditional patterns of social interactions, with less school contact behaviour reported. Fathers differed on several demographics when subgrouped according to whether their target child was first-born, or subsequent-born (2nd or 3rd). First-born children were younger, were more likely to be enrolled in regular classes at present, and their mothers were more likely to be working. Additional data showed that 14 of the 15 target children were boys, and that the families had predominantly male children in total (28 of 32), an unexpected finding. Future research directions are discussed. In order to utilize fathers in the children's educational programme, suggestions axe pointed out for various school personnel, from the home room teacher to school board administrators. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to determine if parent adolescent attachment is correlated with adolescent hope and shame two years later with parent psychological control in the year in between as a mediator. Data at wave four, five, and six for 308 families from the Flourishing Families Project were used. In previous studies attachment has been shown to be important in adolescent development. This study found that the adolescent's perception of the relationship is negatively correlated with shame and positively correlated with hope in the adolescent. Additionally the adolescent's perception of their relationship with both mother and father was correlated with mother and father psychological control, and mother and father psychological control was correlated with adolescent shame and hope. Psychological control was a significant mediator between the adolescent perception of the relationship with both parents and adolescent shame and hope.

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When her father dies unexpectedly and under mysterious circumstances, Veronika embarks on a journey spanning three continents to uncover the truth about his life as well as her own hidden past growing up in the war-torn region of Moldova.

Past researchers have reported that father absence and low engagement affects 24 million children in the United States. African American fathers make up the largest group with low involvement. Fatherhood programs support men in their roles, yet little is known about why this group still exhibits low engagement. Using the family systems theory as a foundation, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of African American fathers who participated in fatherhood programs and their engagement after these programs. This study used purposeful sampling and semi-structured interviews to collect information from 9 African American men aged 18-45 from Philadelphia, PA who participated in fatherhood programs and self-identified as uninvolved. The research question focused on how the lived experiences of noncustodial African American fathers who participated in fatherhood programs influenced their involvement and engagement in their children's lives. Nine audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and coded for themes using a classification system based on key terms and repetitive words. Fathers while part of the family system were found to exhibit low accountability and blaming behavior, resulting in continued low involvement. Future research should include a quantitative or mixed methods study to consider distinct variables such as stated intent, actual behavior, blame, and personal accountability, and influence on involvement. This study contributes to positive social change by informing program modules with interventions for fathers by proposing a shift from lecture models to peer support models considering accountability, support, and the coparenting relationship.

Father absence is the experience of children who grow up in households without their biological father. The African American population experiences the highest level of father absence of all demographic groups in the United States. Research shows that father absence influences school behavior. There is a lack of literature evaluating the extent to which father absence affects children, particularly African American boys, at different stages of development. This quantitative study was used to evaluate how father absence affected school behavior of African American boys, ages 13-15, in the middle school setting, in Houston, TX. Guided by attachment theory, the research question for this study asked how father absence impacts the school behavior of African American boys between the ages of 13 and 15 from mother-only homes when compared to school behavior of African American boys from intact families. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to examine overall and types of externalizing behavior of 60 purposive sampled participants identified from the Child Behavior Checklist-Teacher Report Scale subscales. Results indicated that African American boys from father absent homes displayed an overall higher rate of externalizing behavior than same- aged peers from intact families on all 3 dependent variables (Overall, Rule-Breaking, and Aggressive Behavior). This study is an important contribution to the existing literature and enhances social change initiatives by bringing increased focus on school behavior, adolescent behavior, middle school practices, and behavior interventions. Specifically, the results of this study can be used by educational stakeholders to develop early intervention and prevention programs to address behaviors associated with the absent father experience.

Conventional literacy is important for academic and life success. Emergent literacy is a precursor to conventional literacy, and parent-child book read ing experiences can foster emergent literacy development. Fathers are important figures in children's development and may make important contributions to their emergent literacy development. This study observed 179 fathers from families who participated in research evaluating the Bear River Early Head Start program. Father-child book reading was videotaped as part of a 10-minute observation session in each child 's home at 14 months, 24 months, 36 months, and pre- kindergarten (age 4 or 5). Book reading observation sessions were coded based on parental strategies (i.e. language and behaviors) used during book reading. Pre-kindergarten observation sessions were transcribed for a measure of children's oral language. Children were tested in their homes at prekindergarten with measures of phonological processing, receptive vocabulary, and concepts of print. Regression analyses investigated the individual impact of book reading strategies on outcomes and the impact of strategies over time (cumulative). Findings revealed certain individual strategies had more impact than cumulative strategies, which was contrary to the hypotheses. The most positive cumulative impact was time spent during book reading. Overall, receptive vocabulary was the emergent literacy domain most strongly predicted by father book read ing strategies, and cumulative time spent book reading was the strategy that predicted emergent literacy outcomes most consistently.

This study looked at father teaching interactions and singing in toddlerhood as predictors of child cognitive and language outcomes at prekindergarten in a low-income, ethnically diverse sample. Results found that, overall, father teaching interactions in toddlerhood predicted child cognitive and language outcomes at prekindergarten and father singing in toddlerhood predicted language outcomes. Fathers provided slightly more teaching interactions at child age 24 months than at 36 months, and sang more frequently at 36 months. Within ethnic groups, father teaching interactions were statistically significant in predicting cognitive and language development outcomes for children of African American (approached significance for language outcomes) and European American fathers, but not for children of Latino American fathers. Father singing in toddlerhood approached significance for language outcomes at prekindergarten for children of European American and Latino American fathers, but not for children of African American fathers. Overall, father behaviors were found to positively predict child outcomes, suggesting that fathers provide an independent additive contribution to children’s developmental skills that reflect school readiness. Independently of what mothers do, fathers play a unique role in child development and provide positive parent-child interactions that support children’s early development.

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.