Title: The Blame and the Burden: Deconstructing the Paradox of Maternal Socialization and Adult Masculinity in Uganda
Authors: Arinaitwe Julius, Musiimenta Nancy
Volume: 10
Issue: 2
Pages: 95-104
Publication Date: 2026/02/28
Abstract:
This mixed-methods study deconstructed the paradox whereby Ugandan mothers, despite serving as primary caregivers and socializing agents during formative years, were disproportionately blamed for their adult sons' behavioral outcomes while patriarchal structures that shaped masculinity remained largely unexamined. Employing a convergent parallel design, the research combined quantitative surveys of 800 participants (400 mothers who had raised sons aged 18+ years and 400 adult men aged 25-55 years) recruited through multistage sampling across four Ugandan districts (Kampala, Mbarara, Gulu, Mbale), with qualitative in-depth interviews (n=40) and focus group discussions (n=8) that explored lived experiences of gender socialization and blame attribution. Quantitative data analysis utilized descriptive statistics, bivariate tests (ANOVA, t-tests, correlations), and structural equation modeling to examine relationships between maternal socialization practices, paternal involvement, peer influence, cultural exposure, and adult masculine conformity, while qualitative data underwent thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke's framework, with findings integrated at the interpretation stage to enhance validity and depth. Results revealed that mothers across all regions demonstrated substantial socialization engagement (M=64.95, SD=12.08) but reported limited agency (M=55.18, SD=14.82) and uniformly high experienced blame (M=62.08, SD=17.89), with no significant regional variations, suggesting the paradox was a nationwide systemic phenomenon rather than localized cultural peculiarity. Adult men rated maternal influence highest (M=71.85, SD=15.23) among socializing agents, yet cultural influences ranked equivalently high (M=69.74, SD=14.28) with no significant difference (p=.064), while paternal influence was significantly lower (M=48.35, SD=19.87; all pairwise comparisons p<.001), revealing that fathers' minimal involvement contrasted sharply with mothers' intensive engagement yet fathers escaped accountability through patriarchal privilege. Correlational analyses exposed a strong negative relationship between maternal agency and both traditional norm endorsement (r=-.487, p<.001) and experienced blame (r=-.523, p<.001), indicating that mothers with least autonomy bore greatest accountability-a cruel irony wherein women most constrained by patriarchy faced harshest criticism for its consequences. Structural equation modeling (CFI=.961, RMSEA=.035) demonstrated that cultural exposure (?=.35, p<.001) and peer influence (?=.31, p<.001) exerted nearly double the effect of maternal socialization (?=.18, p<.001) on masculine conformity, fundamentally challenging maternal blame narratives by revealing that broader patriarchal structures contributed more powerfully to masculine identity formation than maternal upbringing, yet remained invisible in accountability discourses. Qualitative findings illuminated how mothers navigated impossible contradictions-pressured to transmit patriarchal norms they might personally reject, blamed regardless of their compliance with cultural expectations, and criticized most heavily when they possessed least power to resist structural constraints. The study concluded that maternal blame served ideological functions in obscuring structural patriarchy's role in reproducing harmful masculinities, displacing accountability onto women with minimal power while shielding the cultural systems, absent fathers, and patriarchal institutions that more powerfully shaped masculine identity. Recommendations emphasized comprehensive community education on shared parenting accountability, policy frameworks expanding maternal agency, and transformation of cultural narratives through targeted media production, arguing that addressing toxic masculinity required not reforming mothers' practices but transforming the patriarchal structures that constrained maternal agency while propagating hegemonic masculinity. This research contributed to African gender scholarship by empirically documenting how gendered accountability mechanisms operate to reproduce patriarchy across generations, and provided evidence-based foundations for interventions promoting healthier masculinities and genuine gender equity in Uganda and similar contexts.