Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

In this study, 162 HIV-positive mothers in Uganda were interviewed about the involvement of fathers and paternal kin, regarding current support they provide to children and as child placement options in the event of the mothers death. More than half of the children had fathers who were already deceased. Another one third had fathers who were alive but did not live with the children. Only 16% of the children were living with and being supported by their fathers. Mothers indicated a strong preference for placement with maternal kin, in contrast to traditional expectations of paternal kin care. Patterns of change in kin care throughout Uganda and sub-Saharan Africa, and implications are discussed in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. (1999). OAU Doc. CAB/LEG 24.9/49 (1990). Entered into force November 29, 1999. Retrieved March 19, 2008 from http://www.africa-union.org/official_documents/Treaties_%20Conventions_%20Protocols/A.%20C.%20ON%20THE%20RIGHT%20AND%20WELF%20OF%20CHILD.pdf.

Allen

S. A.

, & Daly

(2002, Fall). The effects of father involvement: A summary of the research evidence. The FII-O News, 1, 1–11.

Amato

P. R.

, & Gilbreth

J. G.

(1999). Nonresident fathers and children's well-being: A meta-analysis. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61(3), 557–573.

Amato

P. R.

, & Rivera

(1999). Paternal involvement and children's behavior problems. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61(2), 375–384.

Ankrah

E. M.

(1991). AIDS and the social side of health. Social Science & Medicine, 32(9), 967–980.

Ankrah

E. M.

(1993). The impact of HIV/AIDS on the family and other significant relationships: The African clan revisited. AIDS Care, 5(1), 5–22.

Aspaas

H. R.

(1999). AIDS and the orphans in Uganda: Geographical and gender interpretations of household resources. The Social Science Journal, 36(2), 201–226.

Barnett

R. C.

, Marshall

N. L.

, & Pleck

J. H.

(1992). Men's multiple roles and their relationship to men's psychological distress. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 54(2), 358–367.

Bennett

, Faulk

, Kovina

, & Eres

(2006). Inheritance in Uganda: The plight of widows and children. Georgetown Journal of Gender & Law, 7, 451–516.

10.

Boyce

W. T.

, Essex

M. J.

, Alkon

, Goldsmith

H. H.

, Kraemer

H. C.

, & Kupfer

D. J.

(2006). Early father involvement moderates biobehavioral susceptibility to mental health problems in middle childhood. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 45(12), 1510–1520.

11.

Cabrera

N. J.

, Tamis-LeMonda

C. S.

, Bradley

R. H.

, Hofferth

, & Lamb

M. E.

(2000). Fatherhood in the twenty-first century. Child Development, 71(1), 127–136.

12.

Christiansen

(n.d.). Reflections on the changing patterns of care for orphans, 1-11. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from http://www.codesria.org/Links/conferences/hiv_aids/christiansen.pdf.

13.

Christiansen

, Yamba

B. C.

, & Whyte

S. R.

(2005, December). Arenas of child support: Interface of family, state and NGO provisions of social security. Presentation at New Frontiers of Social Policy Conference, Arusha, Tanzania. Retrieved June 7, 2007, from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTRANETSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/Resources/revisedChristiansenetal.pdf.

14.

Convention on the Rights of the Child. (1989). UN GA Res. 44/25, November 2, 1989; Entered into force September 2, 1990. Retrieved March 19, 2008 from http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/pdf/crc.pdf.

15.

Deininger

, Garcia

, & Subbarao

(2003). AIDS-induced orphanhood as a systemic shock: Magnitude, impact, and program interventions in Africa. World Development, 31(7), 1201–1220.

16.

Deniaud

(1997). Current status of the female condom in Africa. Sante, 7(6), 405–415.

17.

Edimu

(2007, May 12). The law of inheritance and will writing in Uganda. Presentation given to the joint BYU-TASO will writing team, Entebbe, Uganda. (Ms. Edimu is an attorney and the program officer for Women Lawyers Association of Uganda [FIDA]).

18.

Eggebean

D. J.

, & Knoester

(2001). Does fatherhood matter for men? Journal of Marriage and Family, 63(2), 381–393.

19.

El-Bushra

, El-Karib

, & Hadjipateras

(2002). Gender-sensitive programme design and planning in conflict-affected situations: Research report. Retrieved April 19, 2007, from http://www.acord.org.uk/Publications/G&CResearch/ACORD%20Gender%20and%20Conflict%20Research%20Report.pdf.

20.

Engle

P. L.

(1997). The role of men in families: Achieving gender equity and supporting children. Gender & Development, 5(2), 31–40.

21.

Foster

, Levine

, & Williamson

(2005). A generation at risk: The global impact of HIV/AIDS on orphans and vulnerable children. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

22.

Foster

, & Williamson

(2000). A review of current literature on the impact of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS 14(Suppl. 3), 275-284.

23.

Foster

, Makufa

, Drew

, Mashumba

, & Kambeu

(1997). Perceptions of children and community members concerning the circumstances of orphans in rural Zimbabwe. AIDS Care, 9(4), 391–405.

24.

Freeman

, & Nkomo

(2006). Guardianship of orphans and vulnerable children: A survey of current and prospective South African caregivers. AIDS, 18(4), 302–310.

25.

Giese

, Meintjes

, & Proudlock

(2002). National Children's Forum on HIV/AIDS: Workshop report. Children's Institute, UCT, Cape Town, South Africa. Retrieved June 7, 2007, from http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/ci/pubs/pdf/hiv/resrep/scf_final.pdf.

26.

Gilborn

L. Z.

(2002). Beyond our borders: The effects of HIV infection and AIDS on children in Africa. Western Journal of Medicine, 176(1), 12–14.

27.

Gilborn

, Nyonyintono

, Kabumbuli

, & Jagwe-Wadda

(2001). Making a difference for children affected by AIDS: Baseline findings from operations research in Uganda. Washington, DC: Population Council.

28.

Gisselquist

, Potterat

J. J.

, & Vachon

(2003). Let it be sexual: How health care transmission of AIDS in Africa was ignored. International Journal of STD & AIDS, 14(3), 148–161.

29.

Gottman

J. M.

, Katz

L. F.

, & Hooven

(1997). Meta-emotion: How families communicate emotionally. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

30.

Gray

, Sundal

, Wiebusch

, Little

M. A.

, Leslie

P. W.

, & Pike

I. L.

(2003). Cattle raiding, cultural survival, and adaptability of East African pastoralists. Current Anthropology, 44(S5).

31.

Harris

K. M.

, Furstenberg

F. F.

, & Marmer

J. K.

(1998). Paternal involvement with adolescents in intact families: The influence of fathers over the life course. Demography, 35(2), 201–216.

32.

Hewlett

(1987). Intimate fathers: Patterns of paternal holding among Aka Pygmies. In Lamb

(Ed.), The father's role: Cross-cultural perspectives (pp. 295–330). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

33.

Holmgren

, Kasekende

, Atingi-Ego

, & Ddamulira

(1999). Aid and reform in Uganda: Country case study. Retrieved April 19, 2007, from http://www.worldbank.org/research/aid/africa/uganda.pdf.

34.

Hrdy

D. B.

(1987). Cultural practices contributing to the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus in Africa. Reviews of Infectious Diseases, 9(6), 1109–1119.

35.

Hunter

(1990). Orphans as a window on the AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa: Initial results and implications of a study in Uganda. Social Science & Medicine, 31(6), 681–690.

36.

Hunter

D. J.

(1993). AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa: The epidemiology of heterosexual transmission and the prospects for prevention. Epidemiology, 4(1), 63–72.

37.

Isiugo-Abanihe

C. U.

(1985). Child fostering in West Africa. Population and Development Review, 11, 53–73.

38.

Invisible children. (2007). Retrieved April 19, 2007, from http://www.invisiblechildren.com/home.php.

39.

Kilbride

P. L.

, & Kilbride

J. C.

(1990). Changing family life in East Africa: Women and children at risk. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.

40.

Luginaah

, Elkins

, Tyndale

, Landry

, & Mathui

(2005). Challenges of a pandemic: HIV/AIDS-related problems affecting Kenyan widows. Social Science & Medicine, 60(6), 1219–1228.

41.

Male-Kayongo

, & Onyango

(1984). The sociology of the African family. New York: Longman.

42.

McGrath

, Ankrah

E. M.

, Schumann

D. A.

, & Nkumbi

(1993). AIDS and the urban family: Its impact in Kampala, Uganda. AIDS Care, 5(1), 55–70.

43.

McPherson

(2006). Property grabbing and Africa's orphaned generation: A legal analysis of the implications of the HIV/AIDS pandemic for inheritance by orphaned children in Uganda, Kenya, Zambia and Malawi. The HIV/AIDS Africa Project Papers. Retrieved April 19, 2007, from http://www.law.utoronto.ca/documents/ihrp/HIV_mcpherson.doc.

44.

Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development. (2004). National orphans and other vulnerable children policy: Hope never runs dry. Kampala: Republic of Uganda.

45.

Nempare

, & Tang

D. D.

(2003). The vulnerability of children and orphaned youth in Zimbabwe. In Singhal

& Howard

W. S.

(Eds.), The children of Africa confront AIDS (pp. 51–58). Athens: Ohio University Press.

46.

Nobles

(1991). African philosophy: Foundations of Black psychology. In Jones

(Ed.), Black psychology (3rd ed., pp. 47–63). Berkeley, CA: Cobb & Henry.

47.

Nord

, Brimhall

D. A.

, & West

(1997). Father's involvement in their children's schools. Washington DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved April 16, 2007, from http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2/content_storage_01/0000000b/80/26/c9/10.pdf.

48.

Nsamenang

(1987). A West African perspective. In Lamb

(Ed.), The father's role: Cross-cultural perspectives (pp. 273–293). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

49.

Nsamenang

(2000). Fathers, families, & child well-being: A review of the literature. Philadelphia: National Center on Fathers and Families. Retrieved April 16, 2007, from http://www.ncoff.gse.upenn.edu/wrkppr/BamePaper.pdf.

50.

Ntozi

, & Zirimenya

(1999). Changes in household composition and family structure during the AIDS epidemic in Uganda. In Orubuloye

I. O.

, Caldwell

, & Ntzoi

J. P.

(Eds.), The continuing African HIV/AIDS epidemic: Responses and coping strategies (pp. 193-209). Canberra, Australia: Health Transition Centre. Retrieved March 9, 2007, from http://htc.anu.edu.au/pdfs/ContinuingHIV/Ntozi_Ziri.pdf.

51.

Nyambedha

E. O.

, Wandibba

, & Aagaard-Hansen

(2001). Policy implications of the inadequate support systems for orphans and western Kenya. Health Policy, 58, 83–96.

52.

Nyambedha

E. O.

, Wandibba

, & Aagaard-Hansen

(2003). Changing patterns of orphan care due to the HIV epidemic in western Kenya. Social Science & Medicine, 57(2), 301–311.

53.

Nyanzi

, Nyanzi

, Kalina

, & Pool

(2004). Mobility, sexual networks and exchange among bodabodamen in southwest Uganda. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 6(3), 239–254.

54.

Ohuche

R. O.

, & Otaala

(Eds.) (1981). The African child and his environment. New York: Pergamon Press.

55.

Oleke

, Blystad

, Moland

, Rekdal

, & Heggenhougen

(2006). The varying vulnerability of African orphans: The case of the Langi, northern Uganda. Childhood 13(2), 267-284.

56.

Oleke

, Blystad

, & Rekdal

O. B.

(2005). When the obvious brother is not there: Political and cultural contexts of the orphan challenge in northern Uganda. Social Science & Medicine, 61(12), 2628–2638.

57.

Olson

T. D.

, & Wilkins

R. G.

(2006). The family, youth, and AIDS. In Morisky

D. E.

, Jacob

W. J.

, Nsubuga

Y. K.

, & Hite

S. J.

(Eds.), Overcoming AIDS: Lessons learned from Uganda (pp. 225–246). Greenwich, CO: Information Age.

58.

Orubuloye

I. O.

, Caldwell

, & Caldwell

J. C.

(1993). The role of high-risk occupations in the spread of AIDS: Truck drivers and itinerant market women in Nigeria. International Family Planning Perspectives, 19(2), 43–48.

59.

Otiso

K. M.

(2006). Culture and customs of Uganda. Westport, CT: Greenwood.

60.

Pillay

(2003). Storytelling as a psychological intervention for AIDS orphans in Africa. In Singhal

, & Howard

W. S.

(Eds.), The children of Africa confront AIDS (pp. 105–118). Athens: Ohio University Press.

61.

Pillay

(2005). Peer victimization of African children orphaned by AIDS: The efficacy of the memory book [Special issue]. Journal of Social Sciences, (8), 21-27.

62.

Roby

& Cochran

(2007). Child-headed households in Mozambique: Toward needs-based policy and practice. Social Development Issues, 29(3), 19–32.

63.

Roby

, & Eddleman

(2007). When she is gone: Child placement options and plans of Mozambican mothers with terminal illnesses. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 88 (2), 292–301.

64.

Roby

, & Shaw

(2008). Evaluation of a community-based orphan care program in Uganda. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 89(1), 119–128.

65.

Seeley

, & Kajura

(1993). The extended family and support for people with AIDS in a rural population in south west Uganda: A safety net with holes? AIDS Care, 5(1), 117-122.

66.

Silberschmidt

(2001). Disempowerment of men in rural and urban East Africa: Implications for male identity and sexual behavior. World Development, 29(4), 657–671.

67.

Shaw

, & Roby

(2007). Child welfare perspectives of caregivers raising orphans and vulnerable children in Uganda. Journal of Social Development in Africa, 22(2), 9–34.

68.

Smith-Lindsay

(2005). The memory book and its close relations. Retrieved March 19, 2007, from http://www.medicusmundi.ch/mms/services/bulletin/bulletin200503/kap03/06smith.html.

69.

Summerfield

(1996). The impact of war and atrocity on civilian populations: Basic principles for NGO interventions and a critique of psychosocial trauma projects. London: Overseas Development Institute. Retrieved April 19, 2007, from http://www.torturecare.org.uk/UserFiles/File/publications/Summ_4.rtf.

70.

The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) (n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2007, at http://www.tasouganda.org/training_cent.php.

71.

Tripp

A. M.

(2004). The changing face of authoritarianism in Africa: The case of Uganda. Africa Today, 50(3), 3–26.

72.

Uganda Bureau of Statistics. (2006). Labour statistics. Retrieved April 20, 2007, from http://www.ubos.org/stlabour.html.

73.

UNAIDS, UNICEF, & USAID. (2002). Children on the brink 2002: A joint report on orphans estimates and program strategies. Washington, DC: USAID.

74.

UNAIDS, UNICEF, & USAID. (2004). Children on the brink 2004: A joint report of new orphan estimates and a framework for action. New York: Population, Health, and Nutrition Information Project.

75.

UNAIDS & World Health Organization (WHO). (2006). AIDS epidemic update. Zurich, Switzerland: UNAIDS.

76.

UNICEF. (2003). Africa's orphaned generations. New York: Author.

77.

UNICEF & UNAIDS. (1999). Children orphaned by AIDS: Front-line responses from eastern and southern Africa. New York: UNICEF.

78.

USAID-Zambia. (2002). Results of the orphans and vulnerable children head of household baseline survey in four districts in Zambia. Retrieved March 16, 2007, from http://www.fhi.org/NR/rdonlyres/.

79.

Wakhweya

, Kateregga

, Konde-Lule

, Mukyala

, Sabin

, Williams

, . (2002). Situational analysis of orphans in Uganda. Orphans and their households: Caring for the future—today. Kampala: Government of Uganda Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development and Uganda AIDS Commission.

80.

Whyte

, & Whyte

(2004). Children's children: Time and relatedness in eastern Uganda. Africa, 74(1), 76–94.

81.

Witter

(2004). Breaking the silence: Memory books and succession planning the experience of NACWOLA and Save the Children UK in Uganda. London: Save the Children. Retrieved March 16, 2007, from http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/scuk_cache/scuk/cache/cmsattach/1838_Memory_Books.pdf.

82.

Witter

, & Were

(2004). Breaking the silence: Using memory books as a counseling and succession-planning tool with AIDS-affected households in Uganda. African Journal of AIDS Research, 3(2), 139–143.

83.

World Health Organization (WHO). (2006). Uganda WHO strategy paper for 2006. Retrieved April 19, 2007, from http://www.who.int/hac/crises/uga/Uganda_StrategyPaper_February06_draft.pdf.

84.

Yogman

M. W.

, Kindlon

, & Earls

(1995). Father involvement and cognitive/behavioral outcomes of preterm infants. Journal of American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 34(1), 58–66.

Changing Patterns of Family Care in Uganda: Father Absence and Patrilineal Neglect in the Face of HIV/AIDS

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References