Abstract:
The influence of fathers in the development of daughters is profound and significant. According to research conducted by Nielsen (2012), “…fathers generally have more influence than mothers on many aspects of their daughters’ development”. This study examined the influence of an absent father in his daughter’s wholistic development in urban areas, a study of selected institutions in Nairobi County. The objectives of this study were: to determine the influence of an absent father on a daughter’s wholistic development; to establish the factors that lead to an absent father in a daughter’s wholistic development; and to identify ways of father involvement in the wholistic development of daughters. Absentee fathers is the independent variable, wholistic daughter’s development is the dependent variable while the intervening variable entails the internal working model that influences the outcome of a daughter’s wholistic development. The target population of the study was 15 females between the ages of 18 and 21 years from Nairobi County. The research is an exploratory design embedded in using the qualitative approach to investigate the personal experiences of daughters of absentee fathers. Through purposive sampling a representation of 5 daughters from 3 institutions were interviewed through focus group discussions (FGD’s) which was targeting their ideas, feelings and lived experiences. The findings of the study were transcribed in a verbatim format that captured all the details of the discussion. The work was then thematically coded, labelled and summarized into themes and sub themes. The study therefore established that the absence of a father resulted in negative emotional, social, and cultural impacts as well as affecting the dynamics of closeness and responsibility of the daughters and their fathers. The daughters on the other hand acknowledged that their relationship with their fathers might be improved by their fathers being easily accessible, responsible and engaged in their daily lives. The findings of this study will help counselling practitioners to develop interventions that will help to enhance secure attachment between fathers and daughters. This information will be vital for fathers as it will help to enhance and improve relationships with their daughters.