Are you your father's child? Social identity influences of father absence in a South African setting

Petunia Smith · Grace Khunou · Motlalepule Nathane

14 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Psychology in Africa

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Family Dynamics and Relationships Racial and Ethnic Identity Research Gender Roles and Identity Studies

Abstract

This study explored social identity influences of father absence on black South African young adults, including use of paternal surname. Informants were six young women and men between 21 and 35 years of age from a historically disadvantaged South African township. Data were collected through one-on-one in-depth interviews, and analyzed using thematic content analysis. Father absence was associated with lower self perceptions and non-use of paternal surname with diminished sense of identity. Use of maternal surname sufficed as an identity for some. Patriarchal norms explained children's perceived and experienced social identities in a historically disadvantaged black community.

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References

2002Understanding and Evaluating Qualitative Research 2007Baba: men and fatherhood in South Africa 2010Teenage Tata: Voices of Young Fathers in South Africa 2004Making a Name: Women's Surnames at Marriage and Beyond 2010Adolescent Boys' Talk about Absent Fathers 2010Children’s Surnames, Moral Dilemmas 2007“In the eyes of a child, a father is everything”: Changing constructions of fatherhood in urban Botswana?2010Undisclosed Paternal Identity in Narratives of Distress Among Young People in Eastern Cape, South Africa

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2014Factors That Hinder Paternity Disclosure to Children: South African Mothers’ Perspectives 2022Understanding the perceived psychosocial impact of father absence on adult women 2025“To Have a Father, Maybe I Was Going to be a Better Person”: A Qualitative Study Exploring the Effects of Biological Father Absence on Young Men in South Africa

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