The psychosocial barriers and enablers for managing growing up with an absent father

This qualitative study was prompted by limited literature and knowledge around the psychosocial barriers associated with father absence among young women in South Africa and the enablers for overcoming these barriers.

The aim was to explore the psychosocial barriers and enablers faced by young women because of father absence in South Africa.

The setting of this study was the Central Business District of Pretoria in the city of Tshwane, South Africa.

Following exploratory and descriptive qualitative research and Norman Garmezy's resilient theory, six young women who met the predetermined inclusion criteria were recruited through purposive sampling to participate in this study. Thematic analysis strategy proposed by Braun and Clarke was used to analyse the data that were collected through semi-structured interviews. The study followed relevant ethical principles and ensured trustworthiness through the principles of credibility, dependability, transferability and confirmability.

The findings demonstrated that these women encounter several barriers, including emotional, financial and relationship issues, attributable to father absence from their early lives.

Despite the various barriers encountered by these women, they demonstrated the ability to overcome them, with their resilience found to be anchored in both individual and environmental factors such as family support, a strong belief in education and self-awareness.

This study contributes to a pool of literature by adding the barriers and enablers for managing the challenges of growing up with an absent father and amplifying a call to provide psychosocial support to them and their families.