Absence of a Biological Father During Early Childhood and Female Adolescent Promiscuity - Research Paper Example

? Does the Absence of a Biological Father During Early Childhood in the Household Increase the Probability of Female Adolescent Promiscuity? INSTITUTION NAME Chapter I Introduction Promiscuity is a topic that causes much controversy and at times the discussion looks to find a culprit or scapegoat to explain the rise of promiscuity in modern times. There have been many targets for this blame, such as the parents, schooling, contemporary culture and the media. When it comes to blaming the parents, it is the father figure (or lack thereof) that is often cast the blame (Figueredo et al, 2005). There has been research that shows there are links between prostitution and the lack of a father figure in early childhood, and numerous others that have shown a significant link between the father and female promiscuity (James & Meyerding, 1978). Interestingly, there seem to be stronger ties between female promiscuity and the role of the father than there does between the absence of the mother and male promiscuity (Figueredo et al, 2005), suggesting that there are stronger ties between the former two figures. To fully understand the topic, it is necessary to briefly explore the existing literature on the topic to place the research in context. This is not merely a 21st century phenomenon; from the mid-20th century, ethnologists and sociologists were exploring the links between genetic relationships and cultural functions. In this work by Greene (1978), results showed that female extramarital promiscuity was not only cross-cultural but based upon the dynamics of certain kinship systems. This suggests that there is a causal link between biological relationships and the functioning of the offspring in a social context. Other research has shown that prostitutes are significantly more likely to come from a home without a father figure, and in those instances where a father figure is present, ‘the influence of an overtly aggressive and alcoholic father leads to a stronger dependence on the mother’ (Gibbens & Silberman, 1960). Again, this suggests a need to fully explore the role of the biological father in the development of promiscuity in the female adolescent. Adolescent females have often been targeted in the literature, possibly because it is at this age that sexual behaviours become apparent and can set the boundaries for sexuality in later life. Bowling (2000) studied a group of 320 young females and found that those who had what were classified as ‘responsible sexual behaviours’ were more likely to have had a father who was actively involved in the parenting process, positive communication with their fathers about dating and sex, and fathers who encouraged androgynous behaviours in their daughters. Conversely, the research showed that the absence of these factors were likely to create a higher rate of promiscuity in teenage females, something that will be explored further within this research. Dankokski, Payer & Steinberg (1996) addressed this issue further by exploring fatherhood and gender stereotypes and the affects that this had on the adolescents questioned in their study of both genders. A qualitative study by Burns (2008) has again shown that females themselves perceive a strong link between their promiscuity (the study in question interviewed teen mothers) and the lack of an appropriate father-figure. They believed that the absence of this male figurehead provided a ‘general context for these teens’ experience of becoming sexually active’ (p279). Alexander (1992) has shown a link between promiscuity and other dangerous behaviours to those with ‘insecure parent-child attachment’ (p185) and the presence of a father figure who is somewhat removed from what would be expected in a stable family environment. The culmination of each of these different research findings is to highlight the need for further investigation into the presence of a biological father and the incidence of female adolescent promiscuity. The research as outlined below will help to put these earlier findings in context and explore the relationship between biological fathers and their teenage daughters and how this has affected social development. The ultimate aim here is to explore the attitudes of these females using a quantitative questionnaire that explore s a number of topics pertinent to the issue of female promiscuity, including pregnancy, sexually transmitted infection and number of sexual partners. The hypothesis, as outlined below, will have significant implications in the literature and the real-world as it will provide information to those who are trying to prevent the rise in promiscuity amongst adolescents. The research will be conducted on 100 female adolescents from one area high school. Problem Statement & Purpose It is clear from above, then, that there is a significant link between different types of father figures and their absence or presence that has an effect on the social function of young women, particularly in a sexual manner. There have, however, been few studies investigating the direct link between the presence of a biological father and the incidence of female promiscuity. Additionally, the existing literature tends to focus on prostitution as a definition of promiscuity, which is something that is not necessarily linked to a high number of sexual partners. The purpose of this research is to ascertain if there is a link between a high number of sexual partners (where more than five under the age of 17 is classified as promiscuous) and the absence of a biological father in the childhood home. Research Significance The significance of this research is that it will provide results that contribute to the existing literature on female promiscuity and biological relationships. By questioning adolescent teens about their family life and their sexual partners, the research will expand on what has already been discussed widely in the literature (see introduction) by focusing on a more targeted group of individuals. Additionally, the research will provide information on how important the father-figure is in the development of a healthy attitude towards sexual behaviours in the adolescent female. If the hypothesis is proved in a significant manner, it could allow for further work to be done in mediating the problems between these girls and their absent fathers to help prevent the rising numbers of teen pregnancies as well as the increasing number of sexually transmitted infections in the area. This is important as it shows that the research will have a significant impact not only in the academic world but that it has real-life applications. Operational Definitions Promiscuity is here defined by having had five or more sexual partners before the age of 17. Sexual intercourse here is defined as any penetration by a penis into the vagina or rectum. Oral sex is defined as any type of genital to mouth contact. Limitations As with any research, there are limitations to the study described below. There are a limited number of participants from a limited geographical area (one high school), and therefore it is difficult to draw conclusions from the research to apply on a national scale. The number of participants is 100, which is a significant number but precautions should again be taken when attempting to generalize this to a larger group. Additionally, data about the socioeconomic background is not gathered, and this may be a confounding variable. Other confounding variables may also be present, which could lead the results of the study to show that the presence or absence of a biological father during the early childhood is significant in the level of promiscuity of the participants when the results are actually based upon some other factor. As previously mentioned, there does not seem to be a link between genetic relationships and male promiscuity (Figueredo et al, 2005), but this does not mean that this is not a factor. Another significant limitation of the project is that the participants are all female and therefore the results should not be generalized to the adolescent population as a whole. Age is also a factor in the study, as only adolescents may participate, so precautions must be taken when generalizing the results to other female age groups. Delimitations The scope of this study has already previously been defined. The participants were chosen based on their gender (female) and age group (adolescent) because this was defined in the research question. The decision to exclude males and other age groups was made to ensure that the research was specific enough to provide significant answers and make a contribution to the topic without trying to cover too much area. The purpose of this research is not to make comparisons between these other factors but to implicitly explore the relationship between biological father presence and promiscuity in these individuals. Time and cost limitations have dictated the size of the study and the methodology outlined below. Assumptions This research makes a number of assumptions based on the findings of the literature and the participants themselves. It is assumed that there will be a correlation between the age at which the biological father left the childhood environment and the promiscuity of the adolescent female, as the literature suggests that there is a significant link between female sexual behaviours and father-figure presence. It is also assumed that there will be no significant confounding variables, as the study will not discriminate or take data on socioeconomic status, race or other factors that may pose problems. This should ensure that there will be a wide enough range of participants that the only variable will be the two being examined as outlined above. Assumptions are also made that the questionnaire will provide all the answers needed to make a judgement on the promiscuity of the individual based on the definition provided above. The definition above will be used for all individuals despite their answers to other questions and this has encouraged the research to stay fair to all individuals in the study. Additionally, it is assumed that the participants will, because of the anonymity of the study, answer the questions truthfully and without bias to provide useful data for examination. Research Questions The main research question here is how the presence or absence of the biological father in the childhood home has affected the promiscuity and sexual activity levels of these adolescent females. Additionally, the research hopes to show a correlation between the age at which the father left the family home and the age at which virginity was lost and the number of sexual partners the participant has. Secondary research questions involve the knowledge of the participant about the importance of birth control and HIV testing, and how this is related to the presence or absence of the biological father. The study also aims to uncover if there is any link between teenage pregnancy and the genetic relationships of the individual, and how these outcomes are linked. Hypothesis Based on the previous literature and the aims of this research, it is hypothesized that the age at which the father left the family home will have a significant impact on the promiscuity levels of the adolescent females. Additionally, it is also hypothesized that the younger the participant was when the father left the family home, the more sexual partners she will have had before the age of 17. Conclusion There has been a lot of research in the literature that has shown a correlation between father figures and other biological relationships and the promiscuity level of females. This research has been used as a starting point upon which to base the aims of this research, as there is a gap in the literature based around the adolescent female, promiscuity and biological father presence or absence in the childhood home. Furthermore, the use of the questionnaire will allow the collection of data about the use of contraception and the role of the father figure, as well as assessing the relationship between pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection knowledge and this father figure. There are limitations and delimitations of the study, but these have helped provide a clear research aim as outlined above, and have contributed to the formation of the research hypothesis. The purpose of this study is, then, to focus on the research questions whilst acknowledging the role that this data will have within the realm of the existing literature and ascertain whether there is a significant link between the presence of a biological father figure and the number of sexual partners an adolescent female has had before the age of 17. Chapter III Introduction As with any study, it is important to explain the full methodology of the research so to increase the validity and reliability (Sapsford & Jupp, 2006), and so that the research can be recreated if necessary. The purpose of this chapter is to fully explain the methodology and the reasoning behind it so as to put the results in context. The following section of this research paper will describe the research, the validity and reliability of the questionnaire, the sample (including demographics), data collection, the analytic plan for the research and any ethical issues involved in the research. Description The research here is based around a quantitative self-answer survey that is kept confidential due to the personal nature of the questions. Quantitative data has the benefit of being easily analysed in a statistical manner (Sapsford & Jupp, 2006), as well as allowing responses to be gathered from more participants. The anonymity of the survey will hopefully prompt the use of true answers about levels of promiscuity. The questionnaire has been developed extensively to have closed-answer questions that allow data collection about the number of sexual partners, age, parental unit, age at which father left (if applicable), attitudes to contraception and attitude to HIV testing. This is to allow the full breadth of the hypothesis to be explored in a quantitative manner, and to prevent erroneous answers from being uncovered due to individual participant response, as can happen in qualitative data collection methodology. Instrumentation The main tool in this research is obviously the questionnaire. The reliability of this questionnaire is high as the use of closed-answer questions increases the chances that responses will be the same if the experiment were to be repeated. This is an important factor of any research, because the purpose of this is to gather reliable results that properly add to the existing data on the subject. The validity of this questionnaire is also high. At times, there are problems with respondents lying or misleading the researchers for whatever reason on questionnaire-style studies. This is particularly important to note when the questions being asked are of a personal nature, which is relevant to this study. However, the participants were fully briefed on the anonymity of the questionnaire before completion and were reassured that no names or connections would be made between themselves and their answers. This will help increase the validity of the study by ensuring that it is measuring what it is designed to measure. Sample The sample here is a group of 100 adolescent girls aged between 17 and 18. These girls were all attendants of one local area high school. The participants were of varying races and socioeconomic backgrounds to help remove these issues as confounding variables. Of the 100 females who participated, 27 identified as white, 28 identified as Latino, a further 21 identified as African-American, 18 identified as Asian and 6 identified as other. Socioeconomically, the participants were asked to place themselves in a category and the results were as follows; 38 identified as working class, 23 identified as lower-middle class, 17 identified as middle class and the remained refrained from answering. This suggests that there is a fair spread of respondents and race and socioeconomic background are not likely to be confounding variables. The participants were asked to volunteer for the questionnaire, and thus it must be noted that there may be a confounding variable due to the ‘type’ of person who has a tendency to volunteer for such activities. The participants were all told about the nature of the study before volunteering, which again may have introduced a confounding variable in that girls who were interested in the relationship between promiscuity and the relationship with the biological father may have a more personal connection with the issue. All participants were asked to sign a written consent form and were informed of the confidentiality of the questionnaire. Data Collection Techniques The primary data collection technique used in this research is known as a survey of a subpopulation, which in this case is 100 examples of females from one local area high school. The data will be collected from the results of 100 anonymous surveys and collated into results that can be analysed to show an overall representation of the research question with relevance to these results. Analytic Plan The data from this research is to be analysed in a statistical manner in order to properly answer the research questions. First, the correlation between the age at which the father left the household will be correlated to the number of sexual partners a participant will have. The significance level is the probability that the results are unlikely to have arisen by chance (Sapsford & Jupp, 2006), and for the purpose of this study, p=0.05. Any correlation above this P-value will be considered statistically significant. The definition of promiscuity used in this test is that the participant must have had five or more sexual partners by the age of 17, and therefore those who fall into this category will be marked and the correlation between promiscuity and the presence of a biological father figure will be examined. The data will then be generally analysed to see if there is a correlation between those who have had a biological father in full-time residence in the family home and a lower number of sexual partners. The research also aims to see if there is a link between the number of sexual partners, the presence of a biological father figure and the attitudes of the participants towards HIV testing and contraceptive use. A participant who uses any of the recommended types of contraception (condoms and birth control) will be labelled as ‘safe’ and those who use other types of contraception (withdrawal) or no contraception will be labelled as ‘at risk’. These two values can then be correlated to the presence of a biological father figure and compared to the number of sexual partners each individual has had. The same can then be done with the responses to HIV testing, with those that have had a HIV test or have no need for a HIV test labelled as ‘safe’ and those who have not participated labelled as ‘at risk’. The research also aims to build on existing research into teen pregnancies, and thus the questionnaire contains questions pertaining to this. Those who are pregnant or have ever been pregnant will be labelled ‘P’ and those who have never been in this situation will be labelled ‘NP’. These values again can then be correlated with the number of sexual partners the individual has had and the age at which the biological father left the family home, if at all. These analytic plans will ensure that as much information can be gained from the raw data as possible to answer all the research hypotheses. Ethical Issues Any study is at risk of having ethical issues, particularly one such as this which aims to collect very personal information from each of the participants. However, by using volunteers and informing them of how their data will be used reduces the likelihood that anyone will be traumatised in the data collection period. Additionally, keeping all the data anonymous using a numbering system will again remove any ethical issues associated with the collection and distribution of personal information. No names were taken as part of the questionnaire. Summary In summary, the research described above will use a self-answer, closed-question anonymous questionnaire to identify the participants attitudes and family life. The questions will identify the number of sexual partners the individual has had, the presence of a biological father figure, the age at which the father became absent, the attitudes towards contraception and HIV testing and the pregnancy status of each individual. The participants are 100 females from one local area high school who are of varying races and socioeconomic backgrounds to remove these issues as a confounding variable. The questionnaire has been tested for reliability and validity to ensure that the data collected is accurate and will answer the research questions. The data is to be analysed in such a way to gain the maximum amount of information from the raw data, and all the data will be used to explore the correlation between the different variables. There are no significant ethical issues with this research due to the use of informed consent and data protection. Works Cited Bowling, S. W. (2000). Father-Daughter Relationships and Adolescent Female Sexuality. Journal of HIV/AIDS prevention & education for adolescents & children, 3(4), 5–28. Burns, V. E. (2008). Living Without a Strong Father Figure: A Context for Teen Mothers’ Experience of Having Become Sexually Active. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 29, 279-297. doi:10.1080/01612840701869692 Dankoski, M. E., Payer, R., & Steinberg, M. (1996). Broadening the concept of adolescent promiscuity: Male accountability made visible and the implications for family therapists. American Journal of Family Therapy, 24(4), 367–381. Figueredo, A. J., Visquez, G., Brumbach, B. H., Sefcek, J. A., Kirsner, B. R., & Jacobs, W. J. (2005). The K-factor: Individual differences in life history strategy. Personality and individual differences, 39(8), 1349–1360. Gibbens, T., & Silberman, M. (1960). The clients of prostitutes. The British journal of venereal diseases, 36(2), 113. Greene, P. J. (1978). promiscuity, paternity, and culture. American Ethnologist, 5(1), 151-159. doi:10.1525/ae.1978.5.1.02a00110 James, J., & Meyerding, J. (1978). Early sexual experience as a factor in prostitution. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 7(1), 31–42. Sapsford, R., & Jupp, V. (2006). Data collection and analysis. SAGE. Read More