Experience of Single Motherhood in Interpersonal Growth: A Case of Umoja Embakasi West Sub-County Nairobi, Kenya

This study focused on the experience of single motherhood in interpersonal growth among single mothers of Umoja Embakasi West Sub-county Nairobi, Kenya. The resilience theory informed the study by Norman Garmezy and the self-determination theory of psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. The study objective was to establish the attitude of the general population toward single motherhood by single mothers at Umoja Embakasi West Sub-county Nairobi. The researcher adopted a phenomenological design to capture the meaning the single mothers at Umoja give to the phenomena of single motherhood and interpersonal growth. The study used a homogenous population of Christian women at Umoja Embakasi West Sub-County Nairobi with a target population of single mothers. A snowball sampling method was adopted to get a sample size of 27 single mothers currently bringing up a biological or adopted child/ren. The researcher adopted a semi-structured interview guide for data collection through face-to-face interviews for 19 single mothers and a focused group discussion guide for eight single mothers. The collected data were transcribed, coded for themes and analysed thematically through content analysis based on the research objectives. The results revealed that single mothers are misunderstood, stigmatized, and rejected by the general population in Umoja Embakasi West Sub-county Nairobi, Kenya.