This study focused on the difficulties and challenges experienced by sons who had absent fathers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the lived experiences of sons who grew up with absent fathers and the effects on them as adults at home, in school, in their neighborhoods, and their decision-making processes. The sample consisted…

The absence of fathers in the lives of children has a detrimental effect on children as a review of the literature consistently points to fatherlessness being a key variable in many of the dysfunctional psychological behaviors and poor academic outcomes of children. This research identifies the essential roles of fatherhood based on the biblical…

The role of the on-going social father in America has received increased attention in the last quarter century. In some quarters, the U.S. father has been viewed as supernumerary or optional. In other quarters, the U.S. father has been perceived to be essential to the optimum development of his children. Still other factions have been intermediate…

The article reconceptualizes father presence as the psychological presence of the father in the child. The article explicates the components of father presence as comprised of the following: (a) an inner sense of father in the child that orients him or her to the father; (b) the child's relationship with the personal father; (c) other family…

Presents theory to explain why fathers remove themselves from children's lives after divorce. Bases theory on potential for change in salience of man's identity as father postdivorce. Propositions and hypotheses are derived from symbolic interaction and identity theories. Defines and interrelates concepts of identity, saliency, commitment, and…

Academic performance of boys in a high father-present (more than 2 hours per day) group was found to be very superior to that of boys in early father-absent (before age 5), late father-absent (after age 5), and low father-present (less than 6 hours per week) groups. (NH)

Effects of father absence on boys and girls who live in families headed by mothers were studied. Subjects were 40 Israeli children (ages 2.6 to 2.10 years of age) whose fathers had died before their birth. Strong differential effects were found in the responses of girls as compared with those of boys. (Author/MP)

Reviews research studies regarding the father's role in child development and indicates that theoretical perspectives on father-child relationships are incomplete. According to recent research, the father's role noticeably influences child development. Changing sex roles do not appear to have influenced most Australian fathers to share caregiving…

Examines whether male and female college students reared in either father-absent or intact families differ in terms of their locus of control. (CM)

Summarizes data from 1990 Current Population Survey supporting three general conclusions: (1) parental employment and children's poverty are linked in married-couple and female-headed families; (2) child poverty rates are insensitive to parental employment; (3) black-white differences in child poverty are not result of racial differences in…

Research supported by Public Health Service Predoctoral Research Fellowship 1-F1-MH-32, 808-01, from the National Institute of Mental Health.

The article presents the goals, methods, and case examples of The Nutury, a predominantly male-staffed child care center serving single-parent children. The primary goal is to provide consistent relationships with men for children without a male model in their home. Clinical observations reveal positive life-styles and attitudes. (LPG)

Among 30 families who received parent training, children's behavior improved significantly. Data showed significant increases in mothers' praises and reductions in mothers' negative behavior, children's non-compliance and deviance. Reductions in non-compliance and deviance were found 1-year later. Significantly more of the mother/child dyads who…

Gang membership and violence are pervasive across the United States. Today children, adolescents and young adults of all social classes and environments are susceptible to gang involvement. Gang members are getting younger and gang leaders are getting older. The composition and structure of the family is examined for the common element between…

As rates of divorce and nonmarital childbearing have increased in recent decades, the percentage of children and fathers who live apart from one another has also increased. Yet our knowledge of how father involvement affects children's well-being in these situations is quite limited, since most research on fathers and children has focused on…