AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON FATHERS’ PERCEPTION OF THEIR ROLES AFTER DIVORCE AND ITS EFFECTS ON THEIR POST-DIVORCE ADJUSTMENTS

Abstract

This study aims to understand the perceptions which divorced fathers have of their roles as husbands and fathers post-divorce and the effects which these perceptions have on their post-divorce adjustment. It includes a conceptual framework which combines Turner’s role theory and Lazarus’ revised model of stress and coping. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with five divorced fathers who have been divorced for at least two years and have not remarried. Hence, this study only focused on their role as fathers post-divorce. Key findings from the study revealed that the responsibilities and meaning which participants ascribe to their role as fathers determine their appraisal of stressors, coping and the plans which they have as fathers post-divorce. Fathers develop different perceptions of their role in the continuous process of adjusting to divorce and these perceptions are influenced by participants’ children, their co-parenting relationship with their ex-wife and the public stigma of divorcees. Interventions for divorced fathers need to be centered on the family as a whole and with efforts to challenge the stigma of divorcees in Singapore today.