Graduation Year

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Degree Granting Department

Communication

Major Professor

Ambar Basu, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Patrice Buzzanell, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Mahuya Pal, Ph.D.

Keywords

Agency, Marginalization, Patriarchy, Women's Health

Abstract

Single motherhood is a growing yet stigmatized family structure in Southwest Nigeria, where patriarchal norms, cultural expectations, and structural inequalities converge to produce unique mental health and financial challenges for women. This qualitative study examines how single mothers in Southwest Nigeria navigate mental health challenges and financial hardships through the lens of the Culture-Centered Approach (CCA). Drawing on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 single mothers residing in the Yoruba-speaking region of Southwest Nigeria, this study foregrounds locally situated narratives to understand how these women construct and reconstruct meanings of single motherhood within their cultural and structural contexts. Findings reveal that single mothers actively resist dominant deficit-based narratives by employing culturally grounded strategies including communal support networks, spiritual coping mechanisms, and collective meaning-making practices to sustain their psychological well-being. Despite experiencing systemic barriers such as labor market discrimination, inadequate healthcare access, social stigma, and the absence of governmental support structures, participants demonstrated significant agency in redefining their identities and challenging patriarchal norms. The study also highlights how structural violence manifested through poverty, gender inequality, and institutional neglect shapes the mental health experiences of these women in ways that biomedical and Western-centric frameworks fail to adequately address. By centering the voices of marginalized women from the Global South, this research contributes to CCA scholarship and challenges understandings of mental health and single motherhood.

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