The presence of the absent father: how lone mothers with sons construct and animate the absent father through narratives

Abstract

This article builds upon results from an empirical study of nine cases where single mothers and their teenage sons have reflected on the relationship to the absent father and on his significance for the family. The results have led us to reflect further on how the construction of a father figure is shaped. The cases are selected from ongoing interventions from the social services. The child's age at the start of the father's absence varied from birth to seven years old or more. Through analysis of the different cases of mother–son dyad, their narratives and their joint construction of a father figure, the dyad transforms into a triad with the presence of the absent father. Also discussed is the question of which underlying conditions contribute to the need for a joint construction of the father. Further, doubt is cast on the one-sided gender perspective that presupposes young men's need for an adult man as a model of masculinity. The analysis is related to Swedish legislation, emphasising the importance of ascribed biological parenthood, meaning that fathers’ right to joint custody and to visit the child have been strengthened. Along with the biological relationship, the welfare state also regulates the content of fatherhood, i.e. a state-controlled fatherhood.