The New Fatherhood

‘New fatherhood’ — fact or fiction?
The perceptions and experiences
of fathers in South Africa
First submission: September 2006
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 fatherwork 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.
‘Nuwe vaderskap’ – feit of fiksie? Die persepsies en
ervarings van vaders in Suid-Afrika
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...