A paternidade na inter-relação com os ambientes ecológicos em famílias monoparentais masculinas

Abstract

The contemporary social context has redefined family ties, ensuring that families are constituted in multiple ways. The index of single-parent families has increased considerably in the last decades, presenting itself as one of the most common arrangements in Brazilian society. Faced with this scenario, paternity has been undergoing a constant process of transformation and it is increasingly far from the characteristics of traditional models. From this, the present study aimed to understand the meanings attributed by fathers of male single-parent families on exercising paternity in the interrelationship with their different ecological systems. The study had a qualitative and exploratory method, with a case study design. Four fathers with children up to eleven years old who were under their (formal or informal) care for a minimum period of five months participated in the study. As a result, it was observed that fathers accumulate household chores, child rearing, and household sustenance. The fathers showed a loving relationship as primordial for the good exercise of fatherhood and pointed out the need for financial or emotional resources to ensure a favorable environment for the development of their members. This dissertation is composed of a first section that presents a review of the literature on the subject, the adopted research method and a description for understanding the cases studied. Then, the second section contains two empirical articles, which propose to present and discuss the results obtained in the research. Finally, general aspects of the dissertation will be included, presenting the final considerations of the dissertation, the bibliographical references, and the appendices.