Growing up without parents: socialisation and gender relations in orphaned-child-headed households in rural Zimbabwe.
J South Afr Stud
; 36(3): 711-27, 2010.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-20879189
ABSTRACT
The most distressing consequences of the HIV/AIDS pandemic's impact on children has been the development of child-headed households (CHHs). Child 'only' households challenge notions of the ideal home, family, and 'normal' childhood, as well as undermining international attempts to institute children's rights. The development of these households raises practical questions about how the children will cope without parental guidance during their childhood and how this experience will affect their adulthood. Drawing on ethnographic research with five child heads and their siblings, this article explores how orphaned children living in 'child only' households organise themselves in terms of household domestic and paid work roles, explores the socialisation of children by children and the negotiation of teenage girls' movement. Further, it examines whether the orphaned children are in some way attempting to 'mimic' previously existing family/household gender relations after parental death. The study showed that all members in the CHHs irrespective of age and gender are an integral part of household labour including food production. Although there is masculinisation of domestic chores in boys 'only' households, roles are distributed by age. On the other hand, households with a gender mix tended to follow traditional gender norms. Conflict often arose when boys controlled teenage girls' movement and sexuality. There is a need for further research on CHHs to better understand orphans' experiences, and to inform policy interventions.
Texto completo:
1
Temas:
ECOS
/
Aspectos_gerais
Bases de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
População Rural
/
Socialização
/
Características da Família
/
Crianças Órfãs
/
Identidade de Gênero
Tipo de estudo:
Guideline
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
Aspecto:
Determinantes_sociais_saude
Limite:
Child
/
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J South Afr Stud
Ano de publicação:
2010
Tipo de documento:
Article