‘New fatherhood’ - fact or fiction? The perceptions and experiences of fathers in South Africa

Abstract

English: During the past two decades, fatherhood has become an increasingly important issue, not only in scholarly debates but also in popular forums in South Africa. This article reports on some findings of a quantitative study, undertaken in the Gauteng province of South Africa, that aimed to shed light on the extent to which men are embracing the “new fatherhood” culture and have become active, nurturant fathers. Although men are becoming more actively involved in child-care, many still find it difficult to manifest high levels of active fatherly involvement, even if they consider it fair to expect a man to perform active father work and define fatherhood as synonymous with nurturant paternal involvement. The research results also indicate the existence of a positive correlation between a man’s perception of his paternal involvement and his experience of marital quality.

Afrikaans: Vaderskap het gedurende die afgelope twee dekades toenemend meer aandag in beide vakkundige geskrifte en populêre forums in Suid-Afrika begin geniet. Hierdie artikel doen verslag van die bevindige van ’n kwantitatiewe studie wat in die Gauteng-provinsie van Suid-Afrika gedoen is, met die doel om lig te werp op die mate waartoe mans die “nuwe vaderskap” kultuur aanvaar en aktiewe koesterende vaders geword het. Alhoewel mans meer aktief by die versorging van kinders betrokke geraak het, vind talle mans dit steeds moeilik om hoë vlakke van aktiewe vaderlike betrokkenheid te toon. Ten spyte hiervan beskou talle van hierdie mans dit as regverdig om van ’n man te verwag om aktiewe vaderskapwerk te verrig en definieer hulle vaderskap as koesterende vaderlike betrokkenheid. Die navorsingsresultate dui ook aan dat daar ’n positiewe korrelasie bestaan tussen die man se persepsie van sy eie vaderlike betrokkenheid en sy ervaring van huwelikskwaliteit.