Life and Fatherlessness -Why Fathers Matter.

A little bit of personal and vastly theoretical perspective about father involvement and its potentially positive consequences for child development

“Fathers should neither be seen nor heard and that is the only proper basis for family life” Oscar Wilde had once written. But over the years the world has time and again tested this proposition drawing on a wide range of social science evidence only to realise its not all true. In view of the module:

Influences on Development (WK 2), this article reviews the absence of fatherhood and its consequences brought about in many different ways. I shall also opine personally in view of being fatherless / losing my father to death as a young boy aged 7 years old, placing myself on the ecological model derived by Bronfenbrenner (1979, 1986) and also relate to the significant influences of being fatherless throughout the course of my teenage years.

Bronfenbrenner’s model of the ecology of human development acknowledges that humans don’t develop in isolation, but in relation to their family and home, school, community and society. According to him, each of these ever-changing and multilevel environments, as well as interactions among these environments, are key to development and I strongly agree as I see the idea of Fathers as the protectors, the providers, the role models of both sons and relationship-models of daughters.

Consequences of fatherlessness include a highly likely case of being exposed to emotional, physical, behavioural problems than those of intact families. The absence or loss of a father in studies conducted over the years has yielded extraordinary negative outcomes. I shall put forth some of these key factors below.

Economic loss

One of the immediate consequences of fatherlessness is loss of economic resources. The child comes to rely on mother’s earnings who earns less than the father in general. There are studies on child poverty with loss of father’s income being stated as one of the many profound reasons.

(Garfinel & McLanahan, 1986)

Life in a single-parent family

Disadvantages in terms of social and behavioral factors have come under extensive research over the years concluding children who grow up with a single parent being the mother are three times

more likely to become wedlock and teen mothers, to drop out of school and two times more likely to be completely idle (McLanahan & Sandefur). Another research ( Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974) concludes that the absence of father is a major mental health risk factor for children. Living in a single-parent family certainly has a negative impact on a child’s upbringing. The child is apt to have more problems involving emotional, behavioral and physical problems and the research studies as mentioned above do not say otherwise.

Children of divorce

Today, there is a lot of evidence on the negative outcomes of divorce-effect children. The effects of divorce and living in a single-parent family as described above are very closely intertwined indeed. (Durkheim & Simpson, 1952). Much damage is caused by fatherlessness and this is fair to add as suggested by the research.

Losing a father through death

According to David Popenoe in his book “Life without father”, the consequence of losing a father through death is totally different to that of losing a father through divorce. The dead father is sometimes a more effective father than the one who is missing – this is where my understanding has shifted to over the years. In all forms of positivity, I carry an idealized image of my my father which might be quite the opposite to the case of resentment, conflict and guilt found in children who lost their fathers to either separation or divorce.

Applying Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory:

The dynamics of fathers’ specific influence can be formulated in two ways. Firstly, fathers function

as microsystem partners with whom children can experience good core developmental interactions. The more microsystem partners the child has with whom he/she has good core developmental interactions, the better it is for the child’s development-as long as the child is not

”overloaded” cognitively or socio emotionally, and the child’s microsystem partners are not in conflict with each other (i.e., the child’s mesosystem relationships are good). In this first approach,

fathers are viewed simply as important additional microsystem partners for the children, but not necessarily as distinctive or unique ones.

The second view is that fathers are a unique kind of micro system partner. Because fathers’ personalities differ from mothers’, children’s proximal process interactions with fathers differ those with mothers in ways that are potentially important for development. Parke, R. D. (2002)

Concluding:

Fathers are more than just another adult at home. Responsible fathers bring forth positive outcomes to their children unlike any other person. Their style of parenting significantly varies from that of mothers and as discussed above as per evidence and cited research studies. Fathers make important contributions to intellectual, social, emotional, and psychological well-being of their children. It is equally intriguing to understand the psychological maturity or shifting of my own understanding of losing a father to death versus losing a father to divorce or similar factors.

Reflection in modern society and education

Today, the need for fathers to love and care for their children has become increasingly greater. It is important to understand that children must be highly educated in order to succeed socially and Psychologically and to do so, strong attachments with fathers who love them is essential. There certainly exists a future window of hope with continued research on fatherhood with its results leveraged in ongoing government reforms to support a better fatherhood society and local communities alike with this sort of knowledge. After all, this reflection might ensure future fathers don’t succumb to modern trends instead enlighten parenthood in light of its true historical significance. I look forward to this as I now understand fatherhood and marriage are indeed indespensable for the good of my future children and society.

References:
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development : Experiments by nature and design.
Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Durkheim, É., & Simpson, G. (1952). Suicide : A study in sociology [Suicide.]. London: Routledge & Kegan
Paul.
Popenoe, D. (1996). Life Without Father: Compelling new evidence that fatherhood and marriage are
indispensable for the good of children and society.
Garfinkel, I., & McLanahan, S. (1986). Single mothers and their children : A new american dilemma.
Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute Press.
Garfinkel, I., & McLanahan, S. (1986). Single mothers and their children : A new american dilemma.
Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute Press.
Maccoby, E. E., & Jacklin, C. N. (1974). The psychology of sex differences. Stanford, Calif: Stanford
University Press.
McLanahan, S., & Sandefur, G. D. (1994). Growing up with a single parent : What hurts, what helps.
Cambridge, Mass ; London: Harvard University Press.