Abstract:

Patriarchal families, as a form of modern families, deal with different problems that other forms of family do not deal with. Single fathers raise their children, while confronting the convicting environment and society that makes their life much harder. Many research have proved that fathers are equally good or better parents than mothers, but society is still oriented to mothers as primary caregivers and fathers are neglected. Media and research are devoted exclusively to mothers and their problems, and data about single fathers is hard to find. One of the positive impacts of life with the father is the early development of literacy, the development of academic skills and the development of sexuality in adolescence. As aforesaid, the quantitative and qualitative research was conducted on the views of the society about the patriarchal families. The research, described in this paper, was on finding correlation between demographic characteristics (age, gender, place of residence, family in which they grew up, the family in which they live, if they have children or not) of the respondents and social opinion on single fatherhood. Quantitative part of research involved 767 participants. Qualitative analysis included an interview with single fathers (N=2) and their children. In the research it was found that the respondents were aware of the existence of prejudices against single fathers. Also it was determinated that the respondents' opinion on different aspects of paternity is divided. It was found that social thinking and lack of support are the biggest problems they are faced with. It was found statistically significant (p < .009) difference in attitudes depending on families in which they grew up (single father, single mother or nuclear families).

Keywords:

One-parent families, single mother, single father, parents.