Paternidade em famílias pós-divórcio cujo pai detém a guarda unilateral dos filhos

Abstract

The contemporary family scenario is going through changes that lead families to set themselves in different ways. Along with this transition context, paternity is also in constant process of transformation, and it has been adding features that put it continually more distant from the traditional models. The rate of post-divorce famili es headed by one parent has increased considerably in recent years, reaching, according to IBGE, a percentage of 21.8% in 2007. Of this total registered in 2007, 9.8% are post-divorce families headed by a father. The objective of this research, from this scenario, is to understand the fatherhood exercise in post-divorce families, in which the father has the unilateral custody over the children. Under the qualitative method, based on case studies, this research had as participants three parents and one of the children, aged between six and thirteen years old, who was in the custody of the parents for a minimum period of six months. As a result, it was found that the parents who lead this family configuration accumulate tasks like household chores, children’s care and education, as well as the household financial support. Two of the parents work as autonomous professionals, being able to flex their schedules and reconcile them with domestic activities and the involvement with the children. The other parent works on a transportation company, but he was on an off-work period, having time to accomplish his tasks. Parents showed a companionship relationship with the children, a characteristic also shown by the kids. Those understand that their presence in their children’s lives, offering them love, affection, security and support is essential for the proper exercise of fatherhood and to promote a healthy development. This dissertation paper is composed of three sections. The first consists of the research report, in which the cases are presented, analyzed and discussed. The second section is a theoretical paper, whose purpose is to discuss the given literature terminology in order to identify the post-divorce families headed by one parent. As the last section, an empiric article was developed, that presents part of the survey data from the content analysis of the interviews carried out with parents.