"Its that time with them that makes it all worthwhile": sole-fathers with children share their experiences

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore the life and experiences of Pakeha sole-fathers who have responsibility for the day-to-day care of their children as a result of separation or divorce. Coming from a Pakeha sole-parent family myself this topic resulted from my interest in sole-parent families, in sharing my experiences and finding out what supports there are for sole-fathers, and what the difficulties are for them. A literature review of previous studies with sole-fathers in the United States, Britain and Australia show aspects of marriage and divorce, child care and parenting skills, employment, income, housing and health services, and maintaining a personal and social life were some factors of concern to sole-fathers in these studies. The methods for gathering a depth of subjective material in an area such as participant's life experiences are qualitative. This was narrowed to methods involving face-to-face contact and interaction for reasons outlined in the following report, and focus group discussions were decided on as the main method for gathering information. Contact persons for sole-parent support groups were asked to approach members of their group who may be interested in participating and these sole-fathers were interviewed through two focus groups held in February-March 1995. The discussions were tape-recorded and transcribed, and a grounded theory approach was used to analyse them. In conclusion it is hoped that this project has furthered the use of focus groups as a research method; highlighted important areas of social policy and the law affecting sole-parents; and that the researcher may further his facilitation skills, and social work awareness of issues of concern for sole-parent families. To provide a brief overview of the presentation which follows: Chapter Two provides a context within which sole-parent families live, including such factors as recent research; social and economic policy; our legal system; and Pakeha culture. The third chapter details methods which were used to collect, analyse, and present the experiences of six sole-fathers. These experiences are categorised into nine themes for discussion in Chapter Four - after which attempts are made in the final chapter to draw the threads of this research together.