Moeders op Curaçao, Curaçaose Moeders in Nederland en Nederlandse Moeders Over de Rol van Vader na de Relatiebreuk: Houden ze de Poort Open

In this qualitative study, we explored the maternal gatekeeper role within three cultural groups. We compared qualitative interviews with 18 Dutch, 20 Curacaoan, and 12 Curacaoan-Dutch mothers. We examined the mothers’ views of the father role, particularly to what extent and in what way mothers promoted paternal involvement and how mothers evaluated paternal parenting qualities and involvement. Our findings show that the mothers we interviewed on Curaçao took little action to stimulate father involvement. Nevertheless, almost all of the (male) ex-partners on Curaçao were (to some degree) involved with their children, in the sense that they regularly undertook activities with them. The Dutch mothers in this study demonstrated conflicting feelings about the role of the father. They were rather negative about the contribution of their ex-partner as a father. However, since they also observed that their child was emotionally troubled by what they perceived as an uninvolved father, they did value the father’s role. The Curaçaoan mothers in the Netherlands, on the other hand, wanted to keep the (maternal) “gate” open as much as possible as they found father-child contact very valuable, even when the father at present showed little involvement and responsibility. In sum, mothers’ views of fathers’ parenting duties after their relationship dissolved seemed to be influenced by their cultural context and background.