Resumen

CRUZAT, Claudia  y  ARACENA, Marcela. Meaning of Fatherhood in Male Adolescents of the South-East Area of Santiago. Psykhe [online]. 2006, vol.15, n.1, pp.29-44. ISSN 0718-2228.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-22282006000100003.

This study aims to reconstruct fatherhood meaning in adolescent males, its sources of influence and its relationship with the personal experience. A qualitative descriptive analytic-relational design was used, based on Grounded Theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), using semi-structured interviews, with a sample of 40 adolescents (20 parents and 20 non-parents). The main results and conclusions show that adolescent fatherhood is a topic full of contradictions and scarcely divulged, generating disorientation and helplessness; it causes a breakdown in the person's life project and promotes restructuring. It is understood by the adolescents as a process and it depends on many external and internal variables, leading to a conditioned fatherhood.

Palabras clave : fatherhood; men; adolescence.