Resilience in black women who do not have fathers: a qualitative inquiry

Abstract

This qualitative study explored the meanings that Black women who do not have fathers attach to growing up without a father. A combination of purposive and snowballing sampling was undertaken to obtain the five female participants, while data were collected through interviews. Resilience theory was used as the framework for conceptualising the study and analysing the data. Strong resilient mothers seemed to play a primary role in how the participants made meanings of growing up without a father. The participants also constructed themselves to be resilient to victimisation that they attributed to father absence. Collectively, the women portrayed themselves to be independent, content, and empowered. These findings challenge the assumption that being reared by one parent will automatically lead to detrimental outcomes.