Abstract
The prevalence of father absence in South Africa is among the highest in the world. While the mother-child relationship has traditionally been the subject of most studies on parenting, researchers are now increasingly placing emphasis on the father-child relationship. This qualitative study investigated the first-year university students’ experience of father’s absence within the household. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to recruit 10 participants into the study, and these participants were drawn from the Auckland Park Kingsway Campus. The semi-structured were utilised to collect data. The data was analysed using a thematic analysis strategy, and three themes emerged from that data. These were; the influence of father absence on family unity and role confusion, the influence of father absence on the participants’ psychological and social well-being as well as the influence of father absence on the socio-economic conditions of the households.
From the findings of the study, it can be noted that the father’s presence in the household is very significant in the family unit and role confusion, the participant’s psychological and social well-being as well as the socio-economic conditions of the household. Specifically, the study found out that the students who grew up in families without fathers or the father figure are most likely to experience a difficult life at home, shared responsibility of child-rearing, insecurity, fear and low self-esteem, mistrust, and difficulties building relationships as well as experience financial difficulties. The study also found that although mothers play an important role in nurturing and providing services to their children in order to create happy and stable homes, the presence and role of the father in the family should not be underestimated.
Keywords: absent fathers, father absence, university students