Abstract:
Patrifocals families in which the parent resides with her children without being accompanied by spouse or other relatives, are emerging as another type of domestic arrangement, and resulting mainly from recent law that allows the parent to offspring custody. This study aimed to know and analyze the daily lives of these families, the exercise of fathering and fatherhood and changes in the identity of the man-father. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five men / fathers living in Ribeirão Preto - SP and in two cities of this region and the data analysis showed its active participation in socialization, in child care, the pride for being the main responsible for them as well as evidence in paternity can be learned, dismantling the myth of a natural incompetence of men to take care of the proper way to offspring.
Key-words:
Patrifocal families; Paternity; Fathering