Resilience among Black South African single working mothers: A mixed-methods study

Abstract

In many South African communities, mothers play a significant role in families, especially considering the numerous duties they perform for the benefit of not only children but other dependents. These responsibilities include providing an income, maintaining the home, offering emotional support, and rearing and protecting children, amongst others. Single motherhood among Black women and female-headed households are also on the rise in South Africa, however, research on the resilience resources available to them is limited. This dissertation focused on the resilience of single, Black working mothers (referred to herein as SBWMs) based in the Gauteng Province (GP) of South Africa. It identified the resilience factors in which they scored higher or lower and used the results to inform the qualitative study. In the qualitative phase, the study explained the specific resilience resources found in the personal and relational resilience resources of single mothers. Quantitative data for the first phase of the study were obtained through an online survey, while qualitative data were generated through photo-elicitation and interviews conducted virtually. The researcher hoped to contribute to resilience literature, specifically regarding the revised version of the Adult Resilience Measure (ARM-R), which still lacks contextual resilience items that reflect the resilience of the Black adult population. Manuscript 1 used the ARM-R to measure the resilience scores of SBWMs. The instrument focused on two sub-scales, namely personal- and relational resilience. Data were collected over three weeks through an online survey from 400 single mothers who reside in GP, aged 23 years and above, held any kind of job to earn a living, provided childcare support alone, and did not receive any form of support from the children’s fathers. The ARM-R proved to be reliable, however, we were unable to establish construct validity despite multiple variations. Further analysis revealed that single mothers exhibited far better relational resilience mean scores than personal resilience. In terms of resilience compared by employment status, single mothers classified as ‘employed’, scored averagely higher on relational and overall resilience than those who were self-employed. Regarding marital status, those that are not cohabiting; and those that are in a relationship but not cohabiting, exhibit higher mean scores of viii relational resilience compared to those separated, divorced and widowed. In contrast, the widowed and divorced exhibit higher mean scores of personal resilience than those in different marital statuses. However, the divorced and widowed displayed poor overall resilience mean scores. A low level of educational attainment also showed a significant relationship with personal resilience, while the correlation suggested that a high level of education had a significant relationship with relational resilience. Manuscript 2 followed a mixed-methods design to explain the quantitative results. The study aimed at describing and explaining the contextual resilience resources of Black, single mothers and how these resources interplay. Due to the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions, data was collected online using photo-elicitation and in-depth interviews. Data was generated from four single mothers who in total, submitted 59 photographs of what has helped them stay strong as single mothers. In-depth interviews were conducted via WhatsApp and Zoom, to allow participants to explain what the captured photographs meant in the context of their experience. Both visual and textual data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The qualitative findings showed that the high relational resilience mean scores found in quantitative results concerned single mothers’ positive attachments they have with their parents, sisters, colleagues and churchmates. All these individuals are women, with only one single mother who received emotional support from her father. The presence of agency and mastery explained personal resilience. Manuscript 3 provides ethical reflections on using photo-elicitation virtually to engage SBWMs. The manuscript was prompted by the challenges experienced by the first author throughout the research process, especially during COVID-19 and at a time when the country was experiencing an electricity crisis known as load shedding. The manuscript reflects on several points of discussion, namely i) ethical issues surrounding the online recruitment process; ii) limitations of online recruitment and participation, and iii) ethical challenges on privacy and confidentiality for online participation. The study further makes suggestions for future researchers on alternative and flexible ways of engaging with vulnerable individuals such as single mothers in resource-constrained countries like South Africa. It also makes recommendations for universities’ ethics committees on how to better meet both the student's and participants’ needs in their ethical guidelines or decisions when approving studies.