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Full-Text Articles in Family, Life Course, and Society
Reconsidering The Orphan Problem: The Emergence Of Male Caregivers In Lesotho, Ellen Block
Reconsidering The Orphan Problem: The Emergence Of Male Caregivers In Lesotho, Ellen Block
Sociology Faculty Publications
Care for AIDS orphans in southern Africa is frequently characterized as a "crisis", where kin-based networks of care are thought to be on the edge of collapse. Yet these care networks, though strained by AIDS, are still the primary mechanisms for orphan care, in large part because of the essential role grandmothers play in responding to the needs of orphans. Ongoing demographic shifts as a result of HIV/AIDS and an increasingly feminized labor market continue to disrupt and alter networks of care for orphans and vulnerable children. This paper examines the emergence of a small but growing number of male …
Paternity Matters: Premarital Childbearing And Belonging In Nyanga East And Mokhotlong, Nolwazi Mkhwanazi, Ellen Block
Paternity Matters: Premarital Childbearing And Belonging In Nyanga East And Mokhotlong, Nolwazi Mkhwanazi, Ellen Block
Sociology Faculty Publications
In this article we discuss the role that fathers and paternal families play in acknowledging and caring for children born outside of a recognised union in two southern African communities – Nyanga East, South Africa and Mokhotlong, Lesotho. While these communities are geographically and culturally close, there are important differences in the responses to the care of children born outside of a recognised union. In Nyanga East, despite not paying damages, the genitor and the paternal family are increasingly becoming involved in the care of children, even when they are no longer in a relationship with the mother; whereas in …