Family abandonment by the father and child abuse in urban Ivory Coast: the case of the Abobo commune (Abidjan-Ivory Coast)

Abstract

This article aims to examine the link between father abandonment of the family and child abuse. The hypothesis states that the departure of the father weakens the safety net offered by the family to the child, which leads to his abuse. This work fits into the theory of routine activities of Cohen and Felson (1979). Methodologically, for 5 months, the documentary study, observation, semi-structured interviews made it possible to collect data from the survey sample made up of 127 individuals. These data, analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively, indicate that infidelity of the mother, domestic violence, immigration, adductive behavior of the father, etc. promote the abandonment of the family by the father. The victim families are generally small. By losing their main provider of resources, their socio-economic situation deteriorates, leaving the mother with very little purchasing power, suffering from psychological difficulties, overloaded with parental tasks. This context parentifies children, takes them out of school, exposes them to neglect, to exploitation, to domestic, psychological and physical violence.