Title: Performing parenting: competencies and social capital for Ghanaian single fathers

Authors: Fanny Adams Quagrainie; Alan Anis Mirhage Kabalan; Afia Dentaa Dankwa; Murat Sakir Erogul

Addresses: Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, P.O. Box AH 50, Achimota, Accra, Ghana ' Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ashanti Region, Ghana ' School of Development Studies, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana ' Robert B. Willumstad School of Business, Adelphi University, 1 South Avenue, Garden City, NY, 11530, USA

Abstract: Drawing on the five competencies areas, the study examines the relationship between individual competencies and successful childrearing practices in single-father homes. Questionnaires are used to collect data from 152 Ghanaian single fathers. With regression analyses, we find that strategic commitment and relationship building are significant for the development of functional children, while learning and opportunities are not. Additionally, social capital does not moderate the interaction of strategic and learning competencies with childrearing practices of single fathers. Results indicate that individual competencies are contextual and social capital from family members and friends may not always be an important consideration for the development of functional children. Finally, the results discussed in terms of implications for theory, policymakers and single fathers.

Keywords: single fathers; competencies; childrearing; social capital.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGSDS.2022.125703

International Journal of Gender Studies in Developing Societies, 2022 Vol.4 No.4, pp.308 - 327

Received: 05 Apr 2021
Accepted: 26 Apr 2022
Published online: 26 Sep 2022 *

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