Exploring Single-Parent Families from Children’s Perspectives:

The number of single-parent families is growing in Japan, while the number is still relatively small compared to other developed countries and little research has been conducted on single-parent families in Japan. In the limited research that exists, it has been pointed out that single-parent families live in poverty and that children growing up in single-parent families are more likely to engage in deviant activities and face a higher risk of low academic achievement. However, very little is known about children's perspectives on their lives. For this reason, the fundamental aim of this research is to develop an understanding of single-parent families from children's perspectives.<BR><BR>Using data from interviews with five children, aged 16 to 17, this study explored their lives focusing on two dimensions; their family experiences and school experiences. Through qualitative analysis, this research drew out their ambivalent feelings toward their family experiences. On the one hand, they viewed their family experiences negatively because they were confused by abrupt changes due to separation and frequent moving. The unexpected discontinuities that occurred in their lives made it difficult for them to adjust themselves to their ‘new' lives. On the other hand, they understood their family experiences in a positive light because of the more stable life they gained through becoming a single-parent family.<BR><BR>Another finding here was that interviewees had comprehensive networks of kin and non-kin persons. In modern families, the norm is that a couple consisting of two adults is charged with taking care of their children and being self-sufficient, and should not have intimate contacts beyond the familial borders. However, as the data suggests, children from single-parent families had access to many actors beyond the boundary of their family and were able to gain resources from actors outside the family.<BR><BR>This finding raises another question: Why do children from single-parent families have these extensive networks? The idea of ‘recognition' (Fraser 2013) is the key to understanding the reasons for these extensive networks. Fraser indicated that social injustice has two dimensions; one is based on socioeconomic injustice, and the other is based on cultural or symbolic injustice. She uses the term ‘bivalent collectivities’ to describe groups that suffer both from socioeconomic maldistribution and from cultural misrecognition. Both ‘recognition' and ‘redistribution’ are needed in order to seek to redress injustice. Overall, single-parent families in Japan face both dimensions of injustice and are categorized as bivalent collectivities. However, the children in this research were able to obtain recognition in two senses. Firstly, there were many students from single-parent families in their middle school. Secondly, there were many single-parent families in their communities. These conditions enabled them to gain recognition from other people. Thanks to this recognition, they were able to reach out for resources outside of their families without any fear of being stigmatized as a child with a single parent.<BR><BR>This study has the potential to provide a new perspective for minority research in general, not only for single parenthood. The research framework of ‘recognition’ and ‘redistribution’ suggests cutting-edge perspectives with regard to other minorities, where many people are suffering from both sides of social injustice.<BR><BR>However, the data were drawn from people who live in the same community and their condition with regard to recognition was similar. Therefore, it will be beneficial to conduct research on various types of ‘single-parent families,’ since there are many kinds of family that come under the term ‘single-parent family.’ Some may be able to gain recognition and others not; some children live with their mothers, and others live with their fathers.