The Behavioral Effects of Father Absence on Children and Their Mothers

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of the presence or absence of the father in the home in two samples of New York City families: a sample of 1000 Welfare AFDC families and a subsample of lower-middle income families from a random cross-section sample. The effects of natural fathers, surrogate fathers and absent fathers were examined for mothers and their children, respectively. The variables included measures derived from mothers' home interviews: 18 child behavior factors and 13 familial factors. The results indicate that children of surrogate fathers revealed significantly more behavioral difficulties than those reported for children living with natural fathers and for children with no father in the home. The effect of father absence as well as the effect of the presence of a father surrogate in the home were found to differ within the two samples studied. While children in both samples were found to benefit from the presence of both natural parents in the home, cross-section children and mothers were more adversely affected by father absence than Welfare children. Implications of these findings are discussed with reference to the role of the poor family in sustaining intergenerational patterns of economic inequality.

Do the Predictors of Child Conduct Problems Vary by High- and Low-Levels of Socioeconomic and Neighborhood Risk?

“…Interactions were detected in 39 of the 44 family studies for at least one measure of familial and SN risk. Twenty-three of the 39 studies that uncovered interactions indicated that familial risk factors were more detrimental in environments characterized by high-SN risk, nine indicated the reverse (Coley & Hoffman, 1996;Coley, Morris, & Hernandez, 2004;Eamon, 2001;Furstenberg, Cook, Eccles, Elder, & Sameroff, 1999;Gorman-Smith et al, 1999;Kierkus & Baer, 2003;McCarthy, Gersten, & Langner, 1982;Miller, Wasserman, Neugebauer, Gorman-Smith, & Kamboukos, 1999;Simons et al, 2002), and seven were supportive of both positions for various subpopulations or measures (Austin, 1978;Berger & Simon, 1974;Eisenberg, Langner, & Gersten, 1975;Gorman-Smith et al, 2000;Lamborn, Dornbusch, & Steinberg, 1996;Shaw, Criss, Schonberg, & Beck, 2004;Williams, Bean, & Curtis, 1970). Interestingly, seven of the nine studies that reported weaker effects in settings with high-levels of SN risk and four of the seven studies that were supportive of both positions for some measures or subpopulations demonstrated restricted range for SN risk.…”

Clarifying the relationship between the broken home and juvenile delinquency: A critique of the current literature

“…Further support for the hypothesis that the single-parent family enhances delinquent behavior comes from four other studies. McCarthy et al (1982) found that, for families on welfare, father absence was related to smoking and truancy. However, their unofficial measure of delinquency was particularly weak as it was based on reports provided by the mother rather than the adolescent.…”

“…Using an indirect measurement of delinquency, Steinberg (1987) found that youth from families containing a stepparent were more susceptible to antisocial peer pressure than either father-absent or intact families. An investigation of lowincome families by McCarthy et al (1982) revealed that, for low-income families not on welfare, the most delinquent children were those in families with a surrogate father. However, their analysis was limited to smoking and truancy.…”

“…Nevertheless, Goldstein (1984) and McCarthy et al (1982) agreed that juveniles from low-income broken families are more delinquent than their counterparts from intact homes. Touliatos and Lindholm (1980) go even further with their suggestion that lower-class children from nonintact families are more delinquent than higher-social-class children from similar families.…”

Drug trafficking among African American youth: Risk factors for future incarceration

“…Several studies have also concluded that for youths like Sabrina who are raised in a female-headed African American home, chances of achieving success are poor based on indicators such as drug use or involvement in criminal activities (McCarthy, Gersten & Langner, 1982;Dornbush, 1985;Steinberg, 1987;Flewelling & Bauman, 1990;Needle, Su, & Doherty, 1990). Finally, many studies have concluded that for African American youths like Sabrina who live in low-income urban neighborhoods, their chances of involvement in criminal activities, especially drug trafficking are very high compared to their middle class counterparts (Whitehead, Peterson and Kaljee, 1994;Weinfurt andBush, 1995: Ricardo, 1994;Li, Stanton, Black and Fiegelman, 1996;Okundaye, 1999).…”