Paternal Absence Issues - Essay Example

Paternal Absence Growing up fatherless may be a root cause of various social ills-from crime to academic failure. Attributable to the almost overpowering complication of modern society and the resulting socio-cultural issues which impact on the contemporary American family culture, it is barely astonishing that the diversity of alternative family structures has persisted to increase throughout the past generation. One of the most familiar characteristics of these alternative family structures is paternal absence. Even though maternal absence from the family is existent and deeply influential on children's development, paternal absence is a much more common incidence (Beaty). Father-Absence Associated with Divorce and Sole Maternal Custody: the Primary Predictor of Societal Ills Affecting and Destroying Children According to children, the prime depressing phase of divorce is the loss of contact of a parent. Temporarily, society is recently starting to recognize on a general basis what children have known all along: Father-absence is one of the most destructive forces to children in our society. Father-absence is the highest social dilemma we face. Correlated with divorce and sole maternal custody, paternal absence is the crucial forecaster of a host of societal ills influencing and devastating children (Wood). Even from an impartial on sexual category discussion on parental absence, the fact remains that in more or less 90% of divorced families, the mother has custody of the children. This result stems from a lawful precedence, often cited as the "doctrine of tender years," which affirms that children up to 6 years of age depend a great deal on the mother for the provision of the physical and developmental needs of the children. This precedence has been substituted by the "best interest standard," which is still heavily weighted in favor of the parent who has spent the most time with the children in the past, rather than in favor of the parent better able to provide for the child in the present or future. This standard tremendously favors the mother ("Children of Divorce: Father's Absence"). The decline of paternity is a chief force following many of the most upsetting epidemic in America: crime and juvenile delinquency; premature sexuality and teenage pregnancy; weakening academic success; depression, drug abuse, and estrangement among adolescents; and the growing number of women and children in poverty (Popenoe). Fathers are the primary and most significant men in the lives of girls. They serve as role models, accustoming their daughters to male-female relationships. Engaged and responsive fathers play with their daughters and guide them into challenging activities. They shield and provide them with a sense of physical and emotional protection. As they grow older, girls with sufficient fathering are more able to build positive heterosexual relationships based on trust and intimacy (Popenoe). Why does growing up fatherless pose such risks for children Two explanations are frequently given: The children get fewer supervision and protection from men their mothers bring home, and they are also more psychologically deprived, which leaves them susceptible to sexual abusers. Even a hard-working absent father cannot manage or protect his children the way a live-in father can. It is also doubtful to have the kind of relationship with his daughter that is typically required to give her a solid base of emotional security and a model for platonic or no-sexual relationships with men (Popenoe). Fatherlessness encourages anti-social behavior as well as delinquency and psychological crisis. Criminal behavior of children, and in particular boys, is promoted by father-absence. The problems with not having fathers in the lives of children can be so cruel that they can cause an 86% increase in the chances that a child will become a psychotic criminal. A few of the extensively identified statistics of the ills, and cost to society of father-absence comprise; 90% of all homeless and runaway children, 70% of juveniles in state-operated institutions, 75% of all adolescent patients in substance abuse centers, 85% of prison youths, and talk about promoting a danger to women -- up to 80% of rapists, stimulated by displaced fury. There is also a threefold increase in the probability that a child will be involved in gang activity (Wood). The extent of a father's involvement is openly associated with educational performance in boys. Fathers often set and implement limits, helping their sons manage their own behavior and build up an suitable and correct conscience. Men are trained to be the head of the family and to have the final word, as in "Wait until your father gets home." When the mother is granted guardianship or custody, the father is often demoted to the role of secondary authority and withdraws to a different setting where he can again be key player. Paternal absence can result in more violent behavior by the boys ("Children of Divorce: Father's Absence") The relationship between fatherlessness and juvenile crime is so dominant that this reason alone is more foretelling than poverty level, race, and education level. When fathers are not present from the home, adolescent and teenage boys are two to four times more likely to be arrested for juvenile misdemeanors. Young boys and girls living in non-intact families are twice as likely to repeat a grade than those living with both parents, and their dropout rate is two times greater. Boys who got in trouble for aggressive misconduct while at school were 11 times more likely to come from fatherless homes. Children without fathers have more trouble forming and maintaining peer relationships than those from two-parent families. On the other hand, children involved with their fathers, have stronger self-worth, are less vulnerable to peer pressure, demonstrate greater talents and capabilities, and are more independent (Klinger). Growing up without fathers, these children lack the support, guidance, and discipline necessary to deal with life outside the family and within it. If the degree of the problems correlated with fatherlessness is considered, it is clear that the absence of fathers in youngsters' lives is a frustrating and destructive trend. Today's world is multifaceted and demanding, and children need the stability of a mother and a father. Relationships between men and women seem more complicated to sustain. Nonetheless, children still need two parents to shield and prepare them for life as adults (Klinger). Works Cited Beaty, Lea A. "Effects of paternal absence on male adolescents' peer relations and self- image." BNET. 1995. 9 May 2009. "Children on Divorce: Father's Absence." Medscape. 2009. 10 May 2009. Klinger, Ron. "What can be done about absentee fathers" USA Today. 1998. 9 May 2009. Popenoe, David. "Life Without a Father." Mensight. 2000. 9 May 2009. Wood, Bill. "Effects of Fatherlessness on Children - Social Consequences." Alliance for Non-Custodial Parents Rights. 2001. 10 May 2009. Read More