More dedicated, more loyal: young men redefining fathering roles and expectations

ABSTRACT

A growing body of research in South Africa has focused on fathers but few have included men from various racial backgrounds. The aim of this study is to capture the experiences of young fathers from a range of racial backgrounds that are residing in the urban areas of Durban. This study draws on qualitative data collected from interviews conducted with 20 young men. The interviews suggest that the experience of becoming a father was not easy; however, none of the young men denied paternity. Instead, they accepted responsibility and quickly adapted to their role. The fathers made a concerted effort to extend their role beyond that of a breadwinner by providing care for their children and maintaining a presence in their lives. Cultural barriers limit fathers from engaging with their children; however, maternal grandmothers ensured that young men were able to maintain family relations with their children. Thus, young men are redefining the narrative of fatherhood by making an effort to be involved in the lives of their children and as a result, they are challenging existing stereotypes and perceptions. More efforts are needed to encourage young men to assume responsibility for their children and to develop stronger family relations.

KEYWORDS:

• Young fathers
• South Africa
• experiences
• provider
• culture
• caregiver

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical statement

The study has been granted full ethical approval by the University of KwaZulu-Natal Humanities and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee (protocol reference number HSS/0579/018D).

Notes

1 During the apartheid era South Africans were classified on the basis of their ‘race’ under the Population Registration Act of 1950. The use of these categories remains prevalent in the South African society. The term ‘Black African’ refers to South Africans who are indigenous to the country. The racial category Coloured refers to a person of mixed ancestry, who may have origins from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, Asian, as well as European. Coloureds are also known as people of mixed race. The racial category White stems from centuries of Dutch and British colonialism, and refers to people of European descent. Indian South Africans refers to those who descended from migrant labourers during the 1800s and early 1900s. The latest released South African national census 2011, uses the following racial categories to classify the population: Black African, Coloured, Indian or Asian and White (see Statistics South Africa, 2012). These categories are used in this study to describe racial differences between young men.

2 According to van den Berg et al. (2021, p. 175) inhlawulo is a ‘cultural practice whereby payment, usually offered in the form of cattle or money, is offered by the father to the girl’s or woman’s family for impregnating her outside of marriage. Inhlawulo is essentially about acknowledging paternity as much as granting permission to a man to be involved in his child’s life. It is often referred to as payment for “damages”.

Additional information

Funding

This work is based on the research supported by the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the Department of Science and Innovation and National Research Foundation of South Africa [grant number 64816].