Teenage Tata: Voices of Young Fathers in South Africa
Sharlene Swartz (Homerton, 2003)
Human Sciences Research Council
Teenage Tata: Voices of young fathers in South Africa provides a fresh and in-depth portrait of impoverished young South African men who became fathers while teenagers. It provides space for their articulate and impassioned voices to be heard amidst the outcry against the absence of fathers, and offers insights into young fathers' personal, emotional, financial and cultural struggles as they come to terms with fatherhood.
It gives voice to the unheard cries of ‘boys' discovering what it means to be ‘men' and parents in the midst of the harsh economic and complex cultural realities of South Africa. Despite their wide-ranging experiences of disappointment and frustration - with themselves, with their inability to find work and support the child financially; with being excluded from their child's life through cultural restrictions; and with their powerlessness to negotiate relationships with the mother of their child's family - the book ultimately showcases young fathers' sense of responsibility towards their children and their emotional investment in them.
It highlights young fathers' poignant accounts of emotional engagement with their children and the women in their lives; the motivating power of young fathers' own absent fathers on their parenting intentions; their desire for sex- and relationship-education from male family members and their clear recognition of the help they need. Based on a multi-interview qualitative study in the informal settlements and townships of South Africa, this monograph offers methodological innovations and showcases how social network interviews offer great potential for both research and intervention.
Publication date: July 2009
978-0796922878
Buy online at Heffers
Added: 12 March 2010
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