Implications for drama therapy in working single-mother households in the South African context
Main Article Content
Keywords
Drama therapy, single mothers, absent fathers, children, development
Abstract
Black women in South Africa are disproportionately represented in low-paying, insecure occupations, with a significant proportion being single mothers raising children in the absence of fathers (Sonubi, 2010). Despite the prevalence of single-mother-headed households, there is limited research exploring the developmental effects of father absence on children in this context, particularly regarding accessible therapeutic interventions. This study investigates the potential of drama therapy as a psychosocial intervention for children affected by paternal absence, focusing on the capacity of drama therapy to support identity formation, emotional regulation, and social development. Drawing on Western developmental psychoanalytic theory, attachment frameworks, and relational perspectives, the research integrates literature on child development with clinical applications of drama therapy, including role play, storytelling, and projective play techniques. Through illustrative case vignettes of children aged 10–17 years from a Johannesburg school, the study demonstrates how drama therapy facilitates the expression of unconscious and conscious experiences, enhances agency, and provides corrective relational experiences. Findings suggest that drama therapy is a culturally adaptable and developmentally appropriate intervention for mitigating psychological, behavioural, cognitive, and relational challenges associated with father absence in single-mother households.
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References
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Boss, P. (2006). Loss, trauma, and resilience: Therapeutic work with ambiguous loss. W.W. Norton.
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss. Basic Books.
Bradley, K. (2024). Dramatherapy and the bereaved child: Telling the truth to children during difficult times. OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying, 1(1), 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228251351780.
Busika, N. (2015). A critical analysis of storytelling as a drama therapy approach among urban South African children, with particular reference to resilience building through Iintsomi: Iintsomi story method, a dramatherapy approach. University of the Witwatersrand (master’s).
Corey, G., Nicholas, L., & Bawa, U. (2021). Theory and practice of counselling and psychotherapy: A South African perspective. (3rd ed.). Cengage Learning.
Creevan, C. M. (2014). Trauma-informed drama therapy: Transforming clinics, classrooms, and communities. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 9(4), 523–526. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2014.970841.
Dokter, D., Holloway, P., & Seebohm, H. (2012). Dramatherapy and destructiveness. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203807323.
Eddy, M. M., Thomson-de Boor, H., & Mphaka, K. (2013). So we are ATM fathers. University of Johannesburg. Retrieved 10 November 2025 from https://www.uj.ac.za/pdf-document/so-we-are-atm-fathers/.
Falana, B. A., Bada, F. O., & Ayodele, C. J. (2012). Single-parent family structure, psychological, social and cognitive development of children in Ekiti State. Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.5539/jedp.v2n2p158.
Freeks, F. (2017). Responding to the challenge of father absence and fatherlessness in the South African context: A case study involving concerned fathers from the North West province. Stellenbosch Theological Journal, 3(1), 89–113. https://doi.org/10.17570/stj.2017.v3n1.a05.
Frydman, J. S., Cook, A., Armstrong, C. R., Rowe, C., & Kern, C. (2022). The drama therapy core processes: A Delphi study establishing a North American perspective. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2022.101939
Fuster Guillen, D. E. (2019). Qualitative research: Hermeneutical phenomenological method. Propósitos y Representaciones, 7(1), 201–229. https://doi.org/10.20511/pyr2019.v7n1.267.
Gooch, J. A. (1998). Wilfred Bion. His life and works, 1897–1979. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 67(1), 172–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332828.1998.12006040.
Graham, T. (2016). Group concepts. In L. Swartz, C. de la Rey, N. Duncan, L. Townsend, & V. O’Neill (Eds.), Psychology: An introduction. Oxford University Press, (pp. 113–139).
Hoey, E. (2005). Children who whisper: A study of psychodramatic methods for reaching inarticulate young people. In A. M. Weber & C. Haen (Eds.), Clinical applications of drama therapy in child and adolescent treatment. Brunner-Routledge.
Irwin, E. C. (2005). Facilitating play with non-players: A developmental perspective. In A. M. Weber & C. Haen (Eds.), Clinical applications of drama therapy in child and adolescent treatment. Brunner-Routledge.
Jennings, S. (2014). Dramatherapy with children and adolescents. Routledge.
Johnson, D. R., & Emunah, R. (2020). Current approaches in drama therapy (3rd ed.). Charles C. Thomas Publisher.
Jones, P. (2021). The arts therapies: A revolution in healthcare (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Kail, R. V., Cavanaugh, J. C., & Muller, J. (2019). Human development: A life-span view. Cengage.
Klein, M. (1946). Notes on some schizoid mechanisms. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 27, 99–110.
Landy, R. J. (1992). The drama therapy role method. Dramatherapy, 14(2), 7–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/02630672.1992.9689810.
Magqamfana, S., & Bazana, S. (2020). Absent fathers: Psychological and socio-economic implications for black children and directions for future research. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 30(2), 169–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2020.1744299.
Malchiodi, C. A. (2022). Handbook of expressive arts therapy. Guilford Publications.
Manyatshe, L. (2013). Why mothers do not tell: Narratives of maternal non-disclosure of biological paternal identity. University of the Witwatersrand (master’s).
Matlakala, F. K., Makhubele, J. C., Sekgale, I. L., & Mafa, P. (2019). Perspectives of single mothers on the socio-emotional and economic influence of ‘absent fathers’ in child’s life: A case study of rural community in South Africa. e-Bangi, 16(4).
McLanahan, S., Tach, L., & Schneider, D. (2013). The causal effects of father absence. Annual Review of Sociology, 39(1), 399–427. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-071312-145704.
McLeod, S. (2025). John Bowlby’s attachment theory. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/bowlby.html.
Morwe, K. G., Tugli, A. K., Klu, E. K., & Matshidze, P. E. (2015). Absent fatherhood: Implications for single mother families in the Odi region, South Africa. Journal of Social Sciences, 44(1), 15–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09718923.2015.11893453.
Naidoo, P., Townsend, L., & Carolissen, R. (2016). Theories of personality. In L. Swartz, C. de la Rey, N. Duncan, L. Townsend, & V. O’Neill (Eds.), Psychology: An introduction. Oxford University Press, (pp. 113–139).
Nathane-Taulela, M., & Nduna, M. (2014). Young women’s experiences following discovering a biological father in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. The Open Family Studies Journal, 6(1), 62–68. https://doi.org/10.2174/1874922401406010062.
Ntloko, Z., & Kheswa, J. G. (2018). Parental emotional attachment and sexual behaviour of female adolescents in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanity Studies, 10(1), 346–368.
Pendzik, S. (2006). On dramatic reality and its therapeutic function in drama therapy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 33(4), 271–280.
Pitre, R., Sajnani, N., & Johnson, D. R. (2015). Trauma-centered developmental transformations as exposure treatment for young children. Drama Therapy Review, 1(1), 41–54. https://doi.org/10.1386/dtr.1.1.41_1.
Polak, S. (2019). Mental health professionals’ practice of reintegration therapy for parent– child contact problems post-separation: A phenomenological study. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 61(2), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/10502556.2019.1699370.
Porter, R. (2014). Movement with touch and sound in the Sesame Approach: Bringing the bones to the flesh. Dramatherapy, 36(1), 27–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/02630672.2014.926957.
Riaño, Y., & Piguet, E. (2016). International student migration. Oxford Bibliographies Online Datasets. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199874002-0141.
Rothschild, B. (2000). The body remembers the psychophysiology of trauma and trauma treatment. W. W. Norton & Company.
Schneider, C. M. (2012). The ten list: Walk as art. Glasstire. https://glasstire.com/2012/11/23/the-ten-list-walk-as-art/.
Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2017). Theories of personality (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Smith, P., Khunou, G., & Nathane-Taulela, M. (2014). Are you your father’s child? Social identity influences of father absence in a South African setting. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 24(5), 433–436. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2014.997013.
Sonubi, O. A. (2010). Managing problems and pressures facing single mothers in management and professional occupations in South African organisations. University of Pretoria (doctorate).
Spillius, E. B., Milton, J., Garvey, P., Couve, C., & Steiner, D. (2011). The New Dictionary of Kleinian Thought (1st ed.). Taylor & Francis.
Sweeney, E. (Ed.). (2023). Space, place and dramatherapy. Routledge eBooks. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003252399.
Sylvester, F. J. (2010). At Risk: The Experiences of adolescent boys with absent fathers. Stellenbosch University (master’s).
Tau, R. G. (2020). The perceived impact of absent fatherhood: An exploration of young adults’ experiences of father absence. University of KwaZulu-Natal (master’s).
Thwala, T. C. (2018). Absent Fathers and the lack of discipline in township learners: A pastoral challenge. University of Pretoria (master’s).
Winnicott, D. W. (2021). The family and individual development. Routledge https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003209157.
Alsaigh, R. & Coyne, I. (2021). Doing a hermeneutic phenomenology research underpinned by Gadamer’s philosophy: A framework to facilitate data analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069211047820.
Berghs, M., Prick, A.-E. J. C., Vissers, C., & van Hooren, S. (2022). Drama therapy for children and adolescents with psychosocial problems: A systemic review on effects, means, therapeutic attitude, and supposed mechanisms of change. Children, 9(9), 1358. https://doi.org/10.3390/children9091358
Bird, D. (2023). Preparing the ritual space: The transition from everyday reality to dramatic reality. In E. Sweeney (Ed.), Space, place and dramatherapy: International perspectives. Routledge, (pp. 149–161). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003252399.
Bojuwoye, O. & Sylvester, F. (2012). Patterns of gender socialization of adolescent boys in single-mother households: Perspectives from a community in Cape Town, South Africa. Gender, Technology and Development, 16(2), 197–222. https://doi.org/10.1177/097185241201600204.
Boss, P. (2006). Loss, trauma, and resilience: Therapeutic work with ambiguous loss. W.W. Norton.
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss. Basic Books.
Bradley, K. (2024). Dramatherapy and the bereaved child: Telling the truth to children during difficult times. OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying, 1(1), 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228251351780.
Busika, N. (2015). A critical analysis of storytelling as a drama therapy approach among urban South African children, with particular reference to resilience building through Iintsomi: Iintsomi story method, a dramatherapy approach. University of the Witwatersrand (master’s).
Corey, G., Nicholas, L., & Bawa, U. (2021). Theory and practice of counselling and psychotherapy: A South African perspective. (3rd ed.). Cengage Learning.
Creevan, C. M. (2014). Trauma-informed drama therapy: Transforming clinics, classrooms, and communities. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 9(4), 523–526. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2014.970841.
Dokter, D., Holloway, P., & Seebohm, H. (2012). Dramatherapy and destructiveness. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203807323.
Eddy, M. M., Thomson-de Boor, H., & Mphaka, K. (2013). So we are ATM fathers. University of Johannesburg. Retrieved 10 November 2025 from https://www.uj.ac.za/pdf-document/so-we-are-atm-fathers/.
Falana, B. A., Bada, F. O., & Ayodele, C. J. (2012). Single-parent family structure, psychological, social and cognitive development of children in Ekiti State. Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.5539/jedp.v2n2p158.
Freeks, F. (2017). Responding to the challenge of father absence and fatherlessness in the South African context: A case study involving concerned fathers from the North West province. Stellenbosch Theological Journal, 3(1), 89–113. https://doi.org/10.17570/stj.2017.v3n1.a05.
Frydman, J. S., Cook, A., Armstrong, C. R., Rowe, C., & Kern, C. (2022). The drama therapy core processes: A Delphi study establishing a North American perspective. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2022.101939
Fuster Guillen, D. E. (2019). Qualitative research: Hermeneutical phenomenological method. Propósitos y Representaciones, 7(1), 201–229. https://doi.org/10.20511/pyr2019.v7n1.267.
Gooch, J. A. (1998). Wilfred Bion. His life and works, 1897–1979. The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 67(1), 172–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332828.1998.12006040.
Graham, T. (2016). Group concepts. In L. Swartz, C. de la Rey, N. Duncan, L. Townsend, & V. O’Neill (Eds.), Psychology: An introduction. Oxford University Press, (pp. 113–139).
Hoey, E. (2005). Children who whisper: A study of psychodramatic methods for reaching inarticulate young people. In A. M. Weber & C. Haen (Eds.), Clinical applications of drama therapy in child and adolescent treatment. Brunner-Routledge.
Irwin, E. C. (2005). Facilitating play with non-players: A developmental perspective. In A. M. Weber & C. Haen (Eds.), Clinical applications of drama therapy in child and adolescent treatment. Brunner-Routledge.
Jennings, S. (2014). Dramatherapy with children and adolescents. Routledge.
Johnson, D. R., & Emunah, R. (2020). Current approaches in drama therapy (3rd ed.). Charles C. Thomas Publisher.
Jones, P. (2021). The arts therapies: A revolution in healthcare (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Kail, R. V., Cavanaugh, J. C., & Muller, J. (2019). Human development: A life-span view. Cengage.
Klein, M. (1946). Notes on some schizoid mechanisms. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 27, 99–110.
Landy, R. J. (1992). The drama therapy role method. Dramatherapy, 14(2), 7–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/02630672.1992.9689810.
Magqamfana, S., & Bazana, S. (2020). Absent fathers: Psychological and socio-economic implications for black children and directions for future research. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 30(2), 169–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2020.1744299.
Malchiodi, C. A. (2022). Handbook of expressive arts therapy. Guilford Publications.
Manyatshe, L. (2013). Why mothers do not tell: Narratives of maternal non-disclosure of biological paternal identity. University of the Witwatersrand (master’s).
Matlakala, F. K., Makhubele, J. C., Sekgale, I. L., & Mafa, P. (2019). Perspectives of single mothers on the socio-emotional and economic influence of ‘absent fathers’ in child’s life: A case study of rural community in South Africa. e-Bangi, 16(4).
McLanahan, S., Tach, L., & Schneider, D. (2013). The causal effects of father absence. Annual Review of Sociology, 39(1), 399–427. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-071312-145704.
McLeod, S. (2025). John Bowlby’s attachment theory. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/bowlby.html.
Morwe, K. G., Tugli, A. K., Klu, E. K., & Matshidze, P. E. (2015). Absent fatherhood: Implications for single mother families in the Odi region, South Africa. Journal of Social Sciences, 44(1), 15–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09718923.2015.11893453.
Naidoo, P., Townsend, L., & Carolissen, R. (2016). Theories of personality. In L. Swartz, C. de la Rey, N. Duncan, L. Townsend, & V. O’Neill (Eds.), Psychology: An introduction. Oxford University Press, (pp. 113–139).
Nathane-Taulela, M., & Nduna, M. (2014). Young women’s experiences following discovering a biological father in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. The Open Family Studies Journal, 6(1), 62–68. https://doi.org/10.2174/1874922401406010062.
Ntloko, Z., & Kheswa, J. G. (2018). Parental emotional attachment and sexual behaviour of female adolescents in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanity Studies, 10(1), 346–368.
Pendzik, S. (2006). On dramatic reality and its therapeutic function in drama therapy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 33(4), 271–280.
Pitre, R., Sajnani, N., & Johnson, D. R. (2015). Trauma-centered developmental transformations as exposure treatment for young children. Drama Therapy Review, 1(1), 41–54. https://doi.org/10.1386/dtr.1.1.41_1.
Polak, S. (2019). Mental health professionals’ practice of reintegration therapy for parent– child contact problems post-separation: A phenomenological study. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 61(2), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/10502556.2019.1699370.
Porter, R. (2014). Movement with touch and sound in the Sesame Approach: Bringing the bones to the flesh. Dramatherapy, 36(1), 27–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/02630672.2014.926957.
Riaño, Y., & Piguet, E. (2016). International student migration. Oxford Bibliographies Online Datasets. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199874002-0141.
Rothschild, B. (2000). The body remembers the psychophysiology of trauma and trauma treatment. W. W. Norton & Company.
Schneider, C. M. (2012). The ten list: Walk as art. Glasstire. https://glasstire.com/2012/11/23/the-ten-list-walk-as-art/.
Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2017). Theories of personality (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Smith, P., Khunou, G., & Nathane-Taulela, M. (2014). Are you your father’s child? Social identity influences of father absence in a South African setting. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 24(5), 433–436. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2014.997013.
Sonubi, O. A. (2010). Managing problems and pressures facing single mothers in management and professional occupations in South African organisations. University of Pretoria (doctorate).
Spillius, E. B., Milton, J., Garvey, P., Couve, C., & Steiner, D. (2011). The New Dictionary of Kleinian Thought (1st ed.). Taylor & Francis.
Sweeney, E. (Ed.). (2023). Space, place and dramatherapy. Routledge eBooks. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003252399.
Sylvester, F. J. (2010). At Risk: The Experiences of adolescent boys with absent fathers. Stellenbosch University (master’s).
Tau, R. G. (2020). The perceived impact of absent fatherhood: An exploration of young adults’ experiences of father absence. University of KwaZulu-Natal (master’s).
Thwala, T. C. (2018). Absent Fathers and the lack of discipline in township learners: A pastoral challenge. University of Pretoria (master’s).
Winnicott, D. W. (2021). The family and individual development. Routledge https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003209157.
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Feb 3, 2026
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Implications for drama therapy in working single-mother households in the South African context. (2026). South African Journal of Arts Therapies, 3(2), 168-186. https://doi.org/10.36615/zxhmnn17
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How to Cite
Implications for drama therapy in working single-mother households in the South African context. (2026). South African Journal of Arts Therapies, 3(2), 168-186. https://doi.org/10.36615/zxhmnn17
