Teenage fatherhood in South Africa: Issues, experiences and policy implications

This seminar will take place from 12:30 - 13:30 and the presenters are Dr Sharlene Swartz and Professor Arvin Bhana, with an introduction by Professor Linda Richter. The book 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.

The study highlights young fathers’ strong sense of responsibility; 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 around Cape Town and Durban, this monograph offers methodological innovations and showcases how social network interviews offer great potential for both research and intervention.
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