Browsing by Author "Lubbe, Caileen"

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    Xhosa-speaking single mothers experiences of intlawulo (paying the damages)
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University., 2020-03) Lubbe, Caileen; Greeff, A. P.; De Goede, C.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Psychology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this study I explored Xhosa-speaking single mothers’ experiences of intlawulo. Intlawulo is a custom within the Xhosa culture that requires a man to pay compensatory money to a woman’s family if he admits to having impregnated her outside of wedlock. In English, the term intlawulo translates directly to “paying the damages”, and it is premised on the notion that a man has damaged an unmarried woman’s chastity, her reputation, and her future marriage prospects. This study employed an exploratory and qualitative research design. Participants were recruited through non-probability snowball sampling, and data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews. Twelve Xhosa-speaking single mothers from Khayelitsha, South Africa were selected to take part in the study and were interviewed by an experienced fieldworker. Data collection continued until data saturation occurred. All interviews were transcribed verbatim, and the data were analysed according to Braun and Clarke’s (2006) technique of thematic analysis. Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems model was selected as the theoretical framework through which my findings were explored and theoretically conceptualised. The findings indicated that Xhosa-speaking single mothers’ experiences of intlawulo varied greatly, and were often contingent upon whether or not their partners had acknowledged paternity and/or paid intlawulo to their family. Positive experiences of intlawulo – which resulted from male partners’ acknowledgment of paternity and/or payment of intlawulo – included: improvements to self-esteem; positive emotions (e.g., happiness, pride); and improvements in relationships and communication amongst the families. Participants who had positive experiences also tended to hold more positive views of intlawulo, describing the custom as valuable and important; as something that held cultural significance; or as a means of connecting two families. In comparison, participants whose partners had not paid intlawulo or acknowledged paternity generally reported negative experiences of intlawulo, such as feelings of devaluation; stigmatisation; distress; anger; father-child separation; and conflict. These participants also tended to have negative views of the custom, seeing it as disempowering to women, or as something that held little importance and value. Many single mothers’ accounts alluded to a sense of disempowerment amongst women throughout the intlawulo process due to a lack of agency at being excluded from the negotiation process and perceiving intlawulo as a predominantly male-directed process. Beliefs surrounding the debate as to whether intlawulo is more important than the payment of child maintenance – and vice versa – was prominent throughout the data text, and it was found that most participants in this study favoured ongoing child maintenance over the payment of intlawulo. A number of barriers to intlawulo were identified, namely: financial constraints; scepticism over paternity claims; and differences in beliefs about and/or views on intlawulo between different families. Although the custom remains important and relevant to many single mothers and their families, shifting views on intlawulo between the younger and older generations were observed.