International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue VII, July 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186
Veronicah Njeri Njuguna1, Dr. Elizabeth Ngozi Okpalaenwe2, Dr. Elijah Macharia Ndung’u3
1,2Psychospiritual Institute Catholic University of Eastern Africa
3Psycho Spiritual Institute of lux Terra Leadership Foundation, An Affiliate of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa
Abstract: This study focused on the experience of single motherhood in interpersonal growth among single mothers of Umoja Embakasi West Sub-county Nairobi, Kenya. The resilience theory informed the study by Norman Garmezy and the self-determination theory of psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. The study objective was to establish the attitude of the general population toward single motherhood by single mothers at Umoja Embakasi West Sub-county Nairobi. The researcher adopted a phenomenological design to capture the meaning the single mothers at Umoja give to the phenomena of single motherhood and interpersonal growth. The study used a homogenous population of Christian women at Umoja Embakasi West Sub-County Nairobi with a target population of single mothers. A snowball sampling method was adopted to get a sample size of 27 single mothers currently bringing up a biological or adopted child/ren. The researcher adopted a semi-structured interview guide for data collection through face-to-face interviews for 19 single mothers and a focused group discussion guide for eight single mothers. The collected data were transcribed, coded for themes and analysed thematically through content analysis based on the research objectives. The results revealed that single mothers are misunderstood, stigmatized, and rejected by the general population in Umoja Embakasi West Sub-county Nairobi, Kenya.
Keywords: Interpersonal Growth, Single Mothers, Stigma, Rejection, Single Motherhood
I. INTRODUCTION
The primary purpose of this study was to establish the experience of single motherhood on the interpersonal growth among the single mothers of Umoja, Embakasi West in Nairobi, Kenya. This chapter presents the background of the study, statement of the research problem, objectives of the study and research questions. It also covers the significance and justification of the study, scope and delimitation of the analysis, and theoretical and conceptual framework.
Single mothers are women who have at least one or more biological or adopted children. They could be divorced, separated, widowed, single by choice, never married, and do not have a partner (Brown, 2019). Soomar (2019) describes single parents as a father or mother bringing up children alone, emphasising that single mothers tend to take up the responsibility of child-rearing in most cases. This is similar to the American Psychological Association’s (APA, 2019)