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RUNNING HEAD: The Weight of Not Having a Father1The Weight of Not Having a FatherCarlos PortilloEnglish 102November 30, 2017Glendale Community College
The Weight of Not Having a Father 2The Weight of Not Having a FatherDid you know that according to a survey the U.S. Census Bureau conducted in 2010, more than twenty million children across the United States grow up without the presence of a father in the home (U.S. Census Bureau Current..., 2010)? This number does not include the millions of fathers that might be physically present but emotionally astray! The presence of a suitable father is most important when it comes to the nuclear family. A good father contributes to many aspects of a child's upbringing,
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Fatherless America: Confronting our most urgent social problem. New York: Harper Collins. Children Who Grow up in Fatherless Households Complete Fewer Years of Schooling Than Others. (1988). Family Planning Perspectives, 20 (3), 148. doi:10.2307/2135709Douglas-Gabriel, D, (2015, April 16). An alarming number of teenagers are quitting school to work. Retrieved November 29, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/04/16/an-alarming-number-of-teenagers-are-quitting-school-to-work-heres-how-to-help-them/?utm_term=.e6aebc179a03 Effects of Poverty, Hunger and Homelessness on Children and Youth. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2017, from http://www.apa.org/pi/families/poverty.aspx Harper, C. C., & Mclanahan, S. S. (2004). Father Absence and Youth Incarceration. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 14 (3), 369-397. doi:10.111/j.1532-7795.2004.00079.xJustice, N.C. (n.d.). Statistical Briefing Book. Retrieved November 28, 2017, from https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/crime/qa05101.asp Leving, Jeffrey M. (n.d.). Fathers absence in America: Turning the tide on fatherlessness. Chicago Family Law & Divorce Attorney Fathers Rights. Retrieved November 11, 2017,
In David Blankenhorn’s book written in 1995, he brings to light what he calls “America’s fundamental problem”: our culture of fatherlessness. Our modern day view of fathers is that they are unnecessary both in society and in the upbringing of a child. Blankenhorn argues the contrary: the only way to solve the multitude of social problems present in America is to address the common denominator, the decline of fathers and the shrinking importance of fatherhood. Blankenhorn’s book is split into three parts: Part I: Fatherlessness, Part II: The Cultural Script and Part III: Fatherhood. In Fatherlessness, he provides the history of fatherhood and includes statistics that help to illustrate the transition of the father from head of the household to being “almost entirely a Sunday institution” (pg. 15).
"The Final Call." Black America's Painful Epidemic: Children without Fathers. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.
In this article, the editors discussed the social trends and how they can change in nature of father involvement. They tested how children today will make their expectations taking upon a role of mother and father. Increase in father absence is associated with poor school achievement, reduced involvement in labor force, early childbearing, and high risk-taking behaviors. In addition, boys without fathers will experience problems with their sexual orientation and gender identity, school performance, psychosocial adjustment, and self-control. The editors differentiated the girls by how affected they were without fathers.
Visher, C. A. (2013). Incarcerated Fathers: Pathways From Prison to Home. Criminal Justice Policy Review , 24 (1), 9-26.
The changing of American families has left many families broken and struggling. Pauline Irit Erera, an associate professor at the University of Washington School of Social Work, wrote the article “What is a Family?”. Erera has written extensively about family diversity, focusing on step-families, foster families, lesbian families, and noncustodial fathers. Rebecca M. Blank, a professor of economics at Northwestern University, where she has directed the Joint Center for Poverty Research, wrote the article “Absent Fathers: Why Don't We Ever Talk About the Unmarried Men?”. She served on the Council of Economic Advisors during the Clinton administration. Andrew J. Cherlin, a professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University wrote the article “The Origins of the Ambivalent Acceptance of Divorce”. She is also the author of several other books on the changing profiles of American family life. These three texts each talk about the relationship between the parent and the child of a single-parent household. They each discuss divorce, money/income they receive, and the worries that come with raising a child in a single-parent household.
It is usual that a child would be raised by both of his biological parents. However, some kids are raised by only one of their biological parents or none. There are many reasons for a child not being raised by their biological parents. Might be because the child’s parent might have passed away, or the child’s parent supposedly just left their child for other people, for urgent reasons. In my opinion, I think that a parent shouldn’t just leave their child for someone else whatever the reason was, because it would affect the child in many ways especially when they grows up. The purpose of this essay is to mention the negative effects on teens who don’t their biological parents.
The premise of traditional parenting is one of the key ideologies behind Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Rappaccini 's daughter; the passage of multiple generations however, has rendered this notion impractical and irrational due to societal shifts that have changed the mentality of parents throughout history. In effect, I will apply psychological criticism to investigate the effects of the declining traditional parenting.
Since the beginning of time, fathers have had a profound effect on their child’s development. Over the years, the norm for traditional family dynamics of having a father figure in the household has changed drastically, and so did the roles of the parents. It is not as common as it used to be to have a father or father figure in the home. In this day and age, women are more likely to raise children on their own and gain independence without the male assistance due to various reasons. The most significant learning experience and development of a person’s life takes place in their earlier years when they were children. There are many advantages when there is a mother and father combined in a
The Family structure has changed significantly in the last fifty years. With higher percentages of marriage ending in divorce, and higher rates of childbearing out of wedlock, single parent families are increasing rapidly. “Seventy percent of all the children will spend all or part of their lives in a single-parent household.” (Dowd) Studies have shown that the children of these families are affected dramatically, both negatively and positively. Women head the majority of single- parent families and as a result, children experience many social problems from growing up without a father. Some of these problems include lack of financial support, and various emotional problems by not having a father around, which may contribute to problems later in life. At the same time, children of single-parent homes become more independent because they learn to take care of themselves, and rely on others to do things for them.
A Father figure is very important in a child’s life. Fathers can teach children things like the importance of responsibility and self-defense. Many children in the United States grow up without a father in their lives. Causes of having an absent father include death, separation, divorce, incarceration, and work. Most children look up to their parents. If a father isn’t there, the children have only the mother to look up to, which is not always a good thing. A single mother cannot teach a son how to be a man. The mother cannot show a daughter what type of man she should be in a relationship with when she is older. These are things that, in my opinion, only a father cant do. Today, there are more fatherless children than ever before. “According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the share of children in mother-only households has risen from 8 percent in 1960 to 23 percent in 2010” (Freakonomics.com). This information is significant in this essay because it proves that there are children without a father figure in their life. This 23 percent of children is most likely higher now than it was in 2010, which means that the problem is not improving. The father plays a very important role in the life of a child, but I think most men who have children that they are not taking care of do not realize this. The absence of a father can cause children to make the wrong choices in life, suffer from certain behavioral emotional and social problems, and financial problems as well.
Even though society as a whole and parenting has evolved, statistics still show the absence of a father or male figure in the household as something that is very common in many families and is concerning. According to a TIME online article, “in the U.S., more than half of divorced fathers lose contact with their kids within a few years. By the end of 10 years, as many as two-thirds of them have drifted out of their children's lives.” (Hrdy & Batten, 2007) Another statistic from the same source states the following; “Even fathers in intact families spend a lot less time focused on their kids than they think: in the U.S. fathers average less than an hour a day (up from 20 minutes a few decades ago), usually squeezed in after the workday.” (Hrdy & Batten,
...istics, 1999). McBride, Brent A., Sara K., Sullivan, and Ho-Ho (2005) reported about the achievement levels in a adolescent who grows up with a father, “A study of 1330 children from the PSID showed that fathers who are involved on a personal level with their child schooling increases the likelihood of their child's achievement. When fathers assume a positive role in their child's education, students feel a positive impact.” (p. 201-216). Children who do not grow up in a two parent homes, are more likely to fail and repeat a grade in school. It is also important to note that children who grow up in single parent families are less likely to have parents involved with the school, 62% of children with two parent homes have parents that are involved in school, while children from single parent homes have half of them involved in school (Nord, Winquist, West, 2001).
When someone thinks about the definition of a father, he or she thinks about the support, care, love, and knowledge a father gives to his offspring. Most people automatically believe that biological fathers, along with the mothers, raise their children. However, that is not always the case. There are many children across the world who are raised without their father. These children lack a father figure. People do not realize how detrimental the lack of a father figure can be to the child, both mentally and emotionally. Enrolling boys between the ages of 5 to 16 without father figures in programs, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, that involve building a relationship with someone who can serve as a role model is essential to prevent males from depression, difficulty in expressing emotions, and other consequences of having an absent father figure.
The foundation of an individual’s character is a product of the enduring journey of life that progressively shapes his or her existence. We, as individuals, are a reflection of the environment to which we have been exposed to, and this is evident in a great number of people's lives as well as mine. I born to an outstanding mother, a strong beautiful woman who didn’t have or need any male support through the process of giving me life. She has been reliable and responsible all throughout my 18 years of life; two characteristics much needed with the absence of a father. However, this circumstance of being fatherless may have affected other children, but because of my large, caring, and supporting family, I had all the necessary gaps filled in.
Single Parent Struggle For many years, children growing up in a single parent family have been viewed as different. Being raised by only one parent seems impossible to many yet over the decades it has become more prevalent. In today’s society many children have grown up to become emotionally stable and successful whether they had one or two parents to show them the rocky path that life bestows upon all human beings. The problem lies in the difference of children raised by single parents versus children raised by both a mother and a father.