The African American Crisis Of The Absentee Father

Courtney Soares

Research Paper

8th period

April 10th, 2008

The crisis of the absentee father is an issue that influences and impacts the African American community.

My aim is to find out the effects of a fatherless upbringing on a child’s behavioral, emotional stability, and educational attainment.

“I had no daddy around when I was growing up… that’s why I’m wild and I don’t give aвЂ¦Ð²Ð‚Ñœ-lyrics by Teiarra Mari. Father absence among the African American community is a very popular yet critical issue. It’s even mentioned in the music industry. This can be the effect of lack of responsibility, incarceration, death, among various other things. Some young men become fathers at a very young age when they are probably very immature, irresponsible, and simply not quite ready for fatherhood. A lot of fathers are unable to build relationships with their children because they are in prison. Other bonds between fathers and children may be cut short due to the death of the father. Situations like these can lead to an unstable household with a single mother left to raise her children alone without the security of a man. Also young children may be left to face troubled childhoods while deeply longing for a father, which can later lead to an identity crisis, rebellion, teenage pregnancy, suicide, etc.

In this ay and age, a majority of African American children are without fathers. “ more than 70 percent of African American children are born out of wedlock, with the majority raised by single mothers.” “ most American children suffer from too much mother and too little father.” This can be dramatically affected by more than one issue such as the father’s ability to provide financial support. Some fathers feel as if they can not be a provider for their families and choose not to be a part of them. Others are pushed away due to their inability to support their families. Some researchers believe that dad’s who are not around are “deadbeats” who are able to provide for their children but instead choose not to. While others believe that some men are more low income, poorly educated, and are not able to find work, but would like to be a part of their children’s lives but aren’t quite sure how to. “the absence of the African American father affects their children, their relationships, and society as a whole, while countering a notion that family fragmentation within the African American community is inevitable.” A lot of homes are without fathers because the homes are broken. The families are split up, which is not rare to come across in this society.

“Many have argued that fathers are important to the psychological development of children and adolescents.” Research evidence indicates that the father plays an essential role in psychological as well as sociological balance of the sexes within the structure of the family. From a personal point of view, I consider the father to be extremely important in the healthy development of a child. The amount of evidence that shows that the fatherless family often results in distorted and problematic child development proves the need for a father figure in the family to a great extent. I also feel that society should become more aware of this problem and the negative impact of the fatherless family. People from broken homes may be more prone to psychotic illness such as schizophrenia. Researchers say their findings suggest the illnesses are not simply brain diseases, but linked to factors such as social adversity. They found much higher rates among black people, who were also more likely to come from broken homes. They found that separation from one or both parents for more than a year before the age of 16, as a consequence of family breakdown. “Schizophrenia was nine times more common in people from African Caribbean originвЂ¦Ð²Ð‚Ñœ

“The 1990 census counted 19 million children in families without fathers. Today that number has increased to some 23 million.” In 1995 approximately 24 million children, 28 percent of the population of American children did not live with their biological fathers, an increase of 17.5 percent over that population 36 years ago. Forty percent of all children of divorced parents have not seen their fathers in the past year. In 1993, only 51 percent of all children were still living with both biological parents, and 90 percent of black children spent part of their childhood in a single- parent female- headed household.

Statistics on living arrangements show that African American children are slightly more likely to live in a single- parent family (41%) than they are to live in a household with both parents (40%). The remaining (18%) of African American children live with a parent and another relative.

Statistics of a fatherless home

BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS/ RUNAWAYS/ HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS/CHEMICAL ABUSERS/ SUICIDES

Ð'* 85% of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes

Ð'* 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes

Ð'* 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes

Ð'* 75% of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes

Ð'* 63%