Does being raised without a father always have a negative impact on your life?

Aim:
My study is based around the effects of fatherlessness. My aim is to investigate the above question and reach my own conclusion as to whether or not being raised without a father figure in your life always has a negative effect. Fatherlessness may be inflicted upon families for many reasons such as divorce. Throughout time, the role of the father is seen as highly important. He is a leader to his family: the breadwinner, a protector, a provider, and a bestower of love. The absence of a good father in a home has negative repercussions that affect the children most significantly, and in turn, society.

I am particularly interested in this area of study as I, myself, come from a family with an absent father. I personally feel that the effects of fatherlessness are highly negative although there may be some positive elements present. I feel that the positive side of my family arrangement is that it has made me mentally stronger as a person and affected my perspective on life. However, I am curious to examine the overall effect on children growing up without a father figure in their life.

Word Count: 190

Context and Concepts:

This is a preview of the whole essay

Word Count: 190

Context and Concepts:

The first context I would like to use is a book called "Life without Father" written by Professor David Popenoe in 1996. The book looks at the effects of fatherlessness and to which extent it can actually affect the mental health of a child. He quotes that, “Almost anything bad that can happen to a child occurs with much greater frequency to the children of divorce and those who live in single parent families”, showing that he believes that the absence of one parent can be more harmful than imagined. He goes onto doing statistical research to back his beliefs and finds a correlating link between fatherlessness and deteriorating conditions of children such as violence and crimes. As children represent the future of our world, these negative consequences are not only misfortunes for those who are affected by the problem but society as a whole. Some of the statistics that were compiled show that children who are raised by only one biological parent are twice as likely to drop out of high school, 2-3 times more likely to have emotional or behavioural problems, and almost one and a half times more likely to be idle (out of school and work) when they are older. It is also proved that children, especially daughters, who live without a father are more likely to be sexually abused during their childhood. “Fathers are not around to provide the supervision and protection that children need to avoid sexually-molesting acquaintances and strangers. Protecting daughters from the sexual overtures of other men has long been a major role of fathers”. I feel that my study into the effects of fatherlessness will produce parallel results to Popenoe – a child raised in a family without a father will be deprived of the basics and therefore have negative consequence on the child’s life.

The second context I would like to use is an article written by Seth Metcalf, focusing on the social and mental development of a child whilst the father is present. The author’s belief is clearly that the importance of having an active father in a child’s life is immense. It states that, “it's safe to assume that dads have an effect on their children even before the little ones begin speaking”. To back this statement, a study of five month old babies is used. The study shows that the babies who had active fathers were more vocal and playful when placed with a friendly but unfamiliar male, than the babies who had no contact with their father. This is due to the influence that was cast over the babies through interaction with their dad. The article also demonstrates how children learn through the social gender differences – generally, as male are seen to be more practical and physical, dads play an important role in developing their children's motor skills and ethical limits in regard to physical interaction. Children of highly interactive fathers are also more curious about the world around them and develop greater problem solving skills. The article progresses by naming various other skills that are developed by children being around their fathers and also shows that children whose fathers are absent have a much slower mental and social development rate. I feel this context backs my study of fatherlessness having mostly negative effects on the child successfully and think that both contexts help me grasp a greater understanding of this particular topic. I feel that I have a gained a broader overview due to the fact that the first context looks mainly at consequences that are inflicted due to fatherlessness whereas the second focuses on what is missed out by the children involved.

My first concept is ‘father’. By this I mean a biological father who plays an active role in the child’s life. I will define the word active by saying that the father must have some form of interaction with the child daily.

The second concept is “negative effect”. This could be defined by saying an ‘effect or consequence’ that lacks of positive qualities.

Word Count: 670