Grootouers se rolle en belewenisse as hoofversorgers van hulle kleinkinders
The roles and experiences of grandparents who act as the primary caregivers of their grandchildren
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Date
2016Author
Jacobs, Issie
Brink, Susan
Roos, Vera
Steyn, Sandra
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Sosiale veranderinge en die verandering in die tradisionele struktuur van gesinne en families het daartoe aanleiding gegee dat grootouers toenemend die hoofversorgers van hulle kleinkinders word. Die doel van die navorsing waarop hierdie artikel gebaseer is, is om grootouers, wat die hoofversorgingsrol van hulle kleinkinders opgeneem het, se spesifieke rolle en die belewenis wat daarmee gepaard gaan, vanuit hulle perspektief te ondersoek. Individuele, diepgaande onderhoude is gevoer met 10 deelnemers (vier manlik; ses vroulik) wat as versorgers vir hulle kleinkinders optree en die data is tematies ontleed. Daar is bevind dat grootouers met verskillende nuwe rolle, soos primêre finansiële versorger, bemiddelaar en dissiplineerder, identifiseer. Hierdie rolle veroorsaak konflik, bekommernis en spanning by grootouers wat ’n ander rol en ander aktiwiteite in gedagte gehad het vir wanneer hulle ouer word. Dit is egter die onbuigsaamheid van die skool- en gesondheidsisteem wat opval en waarteen die saamgestelde gesin, met grootouers as hoofversorgers, te staan kom. Dit is krities noodsaaklik dat beleidmakers kennis neem van die behoeftes van saamgestelde gesinne met spesifieke verwysing na die sosiale veranderinge en die bykomende druk wat dit op grootouers se psigososiale en finansiële bronne plaas. Die bevindinge kan gesondheids- en maatskaplike werkers ook rig in die beplanning van psigososiale ingrepe ten einde grootouers te ondersteun in die opname van hulle nuwe rolle of om ouerskapsvaardighede wat toepaslik is vir die rol in verhouding tot lede van ’n jonger geslag op te skerp Social
change
and
the
change
in
the
traditional
structures
of
families
gave
way
to
an
increase
in
the
phenomenon
where
grandparents
act
as
the
primary
caregivers
of
their
grandchildren.
The
reasons
for
the
increase
are
linked
to
aspects
such
as
parents’
psycho
-
social
inability
to
take
care
of
their
children;
the
death
of
one
or
both
parents;
drug
abuse
by
one
or
both
parents;
jail
sentence
of
one
or
both
parents;
health
problems
such
as
HIV/Aids
of
one
or
both
the
parents;
as
well
as
aspects
pertaining
to
the
divorce
of
parents.
Due
to
the
increase
in
the
phenomenon
terminology
has
emerged
over
the
years
to
refer
to
families
where
grandparents
are
the
primary
caregivers
of
their
grandchildren.
These
families
are
referred
to
as
“skipped
-
generation
families”
or
“grandfamilies”
and
the
grandchildren
are
referred
to
as
“grandkin”.
The
theoretical
point
of
departure
of
the
current
study
is
role
theory
as
put
forward
by
Landry
-
Meyer
and
Newman
(2004).
The
following
three
aspects
of
role
theory
which
apply
specifically
to
grandparents
who
act
as
the
primary
care
givers
of
their
grandchildren
are
of
specific
importance:
the
timing
of
the
new
role
that
grandparents
have
to
fulfil,
the
ambiguity
of
the
role,
and
the
conflict
attached
to
the
ambiguity
of
the
role.
It
became
evident
from
the
literature
review
that
little
to
no
research
has
been
done
on
white
grandparents
who
act
as
the
primary
caregivers
of
their
grandchildren
in
the
suburban
areas
of
South
Africa.
By
comparison,
much
research
has
been
done
among
grandparents
who
act
as
primary
caregivers
of
their
grandchildren
in
most
of
the
other
cultural
groups
in
South
Africa.
The
general
aim
of
the
study
on
which
this
article
is
based
was
to
qualitatively
explore
white
grandparents’
perspectives
on
the
specific
roles
they
took
on
themselves,
as
well
as
their
experiences
of
these
roles
while
acting
as
the
primary
caregivers
of
their
grandchildren.
Purposive
sampling
was
used
to
select
potential
participants
who
met
the
following
inclusion
criteria:
potential
participants
must
belong
to
the
white
population
group;
they
must
reside
in
a
specific
town
in
the
Free
State;
they
must
act
as
the
primary
caregivers
of
their
grandchildren
18
years
and
younger;
and
they
must
be
willing
to
participate
in
the
study.
Ten
participants
who
met
the
inclusion
criteria
were
selected
to
participate
in
the
study.
Four
of
the
ten
participants
were
male
participants,
and
six
were
female
participants.
After
informed
consent
was
obtained
from
all
the
participants,
they
were
engaged
in
an
in
-
depth,
one
-
on
-
one
unstructured
interview.
The
participants
were
asked
to
reflect
on
the
following:
Describe
your
experience
of
having
to
act
as
the
primary
caregiver
of
your
grandchildren.
Follow
-
up
probing
questions
were
also
asked,
such
as:
“Which
specific
roles
were
added
for
which
you
became
responsible
after
becoming
the
primary
caregiver
of
your
grandchildren?”
The
data
obtained
from
the
interviews
was
analysed
using
the
six
steps
as
discussed
by
Clarke
and
Braun
(2013).
Additional
roles
that
grandparents
acting
as
the
primary
caregivers
of
their
grandchildren
became
responsible
for
are
a
financial
role,
a
mediating
role
and
a
disciplinary
role.
According
to
the
grandparents
the
added
financial
responsibility
has
the
most
profound
impact
on
their
role
as
the
primary
caregivers
of
their
grandchildren.
All
of
a
sudden 316
grandparents
are
responsible
for
any
medical
and/or
school
fees
that
their
grandchildren
may
have.
However,
not
being
the
legal
guardian
of
their
grandchildren
precludes
grandparents
from
registering
their
grandchildren
on
their
medical
fund.
By
law,
grandparents
can
become
the
legal
guardian
of
their
grandchildren
only
if
they
adopt
their
grandchildren.
For
this
to
happen
their
biological
parents
need
to
sign
off
all
their
rights
and
responsibilities
as
parents.
Not
being
able
to
be
accepted
as
the
legal
guardian
of
their
grandchildren
causes
feelings
of
frustration
and
added
stress,
something
grandparents
did
not
expect
to
have
to
deal
with
at
this
point
in
their
lives.
In
order
to
provide
and
make
ends
meet,
some
grandparents
are
therefore
forced
to
seek
out
new
job
opportunities
after
they
had
already
retired.
Grandparents
also
take
up
a
mediating
role
between
their
grandchildren
and
their
biological
parents
as
well
as
between
them
and
the
schooling
community.
In
most
cases
the
biological
parents
are
the
biological
children
of
the
grandparents,
which
contributes
to
a
lot
of
stress
and
conflict
between
not
only
them
and
their
own
children,
but
also
between
them
and
their
grandchildren.
Grandparents
are,
however,
in
agreement
that
no
matter
what,
they
will
always
encourage
and
work
towards
creating
an
atmosphere
where
their
grandchildren
will
have
a
positive
relationship
with
their
parents.
Grandparents’
mediating
role
between
the
grandchildren
and
the
school
most
of
the
time
involves
aspects
pertaining
to
school
funds
and
getting
the
school
community
to
understand
the
position
that
they
and
their
grandchildren
find
themselves
in.
Negative
experiences
with
the
schooling
community
contribute
to
grandparents’
not
feeling
at
liberty
to
approach
the
school
regarding
any
further
difficulties
they
may
experience.
Grandparents
seem
always
to
have
a
disciplinary
role
as
far
as
their
grandchildren
are
concerned.
However,
in
their
traditional
role
as
grandparents
their
disciplinary
role
is
supportive
to
that
of
the
biological
parents.
Being
primary
caregivers
changes
their
role
to
that
of
becoming
the
ones
who
are
primarily
responsible
for
the
discipline
of
their
grandchildren.
At
t
his
point
in
their
lives
grandparents
feel
that
they
had
their
turn
to
discipline
children
and
therefore
sometimes
do
not
discipline
their
grandchildren
the
way
they
should.
Grandparents
end
up
doubting
their
abilities
to
be
primary
caregivers
and
feeling
ambivalent
about
this
role
they
have
to
fulfil,
seeing
that
they
would
rather
want
to
be
the
ones
who
spoil
their
grandchildren.
An
important
aspect
that
came
to
the
fore
in
the
study
is
that
the
phenomenon
where
grandparents
are
the
primary
caregivers
of
their
grandchildren
is
an
increasing
one
and
one
which
is
not
going
to
disappear.
It
is
therefore
important
that
all
role
players
(school
communities,
social
workers,
healthcare
workers,
medical
funds
and
members
of
the
law
community)
should
be
made
aware
of
this
phenomenon
in
order
to
find
solutions
for
best
practices
regarding
how
to
address
the
psycho
-
social
challenges
posed
by
it
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/23228http://www.litnet.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/LitNet_Akademies_13-3_Jacobs_ea_314-331.pdf
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