The Importance of a Father
In APA Style
Thomas Menahan
Psychology 255
Minot State University
The Importance of a Father
According to the US census Bureau, In the United States today 36.3% of children live in single parent households, Approximately 84% of custodial parents are mothers, and 16% of custodial parents are fathers, by this it is meant in households that have one of the biological parents that are not involved within the family, whether it is job related or whether it be divorce or death. Children in these circumstances deal with psychological, emotional and social issues that children from “standard” families do not have to deal with. Some of these issues are transferred from homes to school life, different social situations and personal issues that can in special conditions lead to possible jail time, problems in school due to added responsibilities at home and lack of friends outside of their families. A standard household as defined for the purpose of this paper, is a family that consists of both biological parents, both mother and father, which the mother stays at home with her family during the day and the father works a nine to five job before which he comes home to spend the rest of the night with his family. A fatherless or single parent household is defined for the purpose of this paper as a family consisting of only one biological parent who works a nine to five job as well as raising a family full time.
“Among the many stresses which assault today’s American family father absence is an increasingly frequent phenomenon.” (Popeno, 182) Children who are raised in single parent households have a great deal more demands put on them as their only parent present is usually working or busy taking the role of two parents while trying to make ends meet. Some of these demands are related to extra house work, added pressure to get a job as well as dealing with parental pressure of not ending up in the situation that they are in. With all of...