Makusha Tawanda, Richter Linda
a HIV/AIDS, STIs and Tuberculosis Programme , Human Sciences Research Council , Durban , South Africa.
b DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development , University of the Witwatersrand , Johannesburg , South Africa.
Cult Health Sex. 2016;18(3):308-20. doi: 10.1080/13691058.2015.1083122. Epub 2015 Oct 26.
Involved and caring fatherhood contributes to the health and wellbeing of children, women and men. The corollary is also true - men, women and children are affected when fathers are not involved or supportive of their children. Many factors affect fathers' involvement, including women's attitudes, the history and nature of the relationship between mother and father, and the cultural context. This study explores gatekeeping and its impact on father involvement among Black South Africans in rural KwaZulu-Natal. Among married couples, gatekeeping occurs with respect to childcare and housework through women's attempts to validate their maternal identity according to socially and culturally constructed gender roles. Among unmarried, non-resident parents, women control father-child contact and involvement, with mothers and/or their families either facilitating or inhibiting father involvement. In this context, we found that cultural gatekeeping had a huge impact on father involvement, with the non-payment of inhlawulo or lobola regulating father-child involvement. In a country like South Africa, where there is high non-marital fertility and father-child non-residence, future research, parenting and family programmes should focus on strategies that encourage positive paternal involvement as well as maternal and cultural support for father involvement, regardless of parental relationship and residence status.
积极参与且关爱子女的父亲角色有助于儿童、女性和男性的健康与幸福。反之亦然——当父亲不参与或不支持子女时，男性、女性和儿童都会受到影响。许多因素会影响父亲的参与度，包括女性的态度、父母之间关系的历史和性质，以及文化背景。本研究探讨了把关现象及其对夸祖鲁-纳塔尔农村地区南非黑人父亲参与度的影响。在已婚夫妇中，女性会根据社会和文化建构的性别角色来试图确认自己的母亲身份，从而在育儿和家务方面出现把关现象。在未婚、非同居的父母中，女性控制着父亲与孩子的接触和参与度，母亲和/或其家人要么促进要么抑制父亲的参与。在这种背景下，我们发现文化把关对父亲的参与度有巨大影响，彩礼未支付的情况会对父子关系产生影响。在南非这样非婚生育率高且父子不同居现象普遍的国家，未来的研究、育儿及家庭项目应聚焦于鼓励父亲积极参与的策略，以及来自母亲和文化层面对于父亲参与的支持，无论父母的关系及居住状况如何。
