Hi benfranklin,
Thanks for an interesting question.
There's volumes of research on this topic, so I've focused on articles
that offer an overview of the studies.
A wealth of statistics about increased likelihoods of deviant behavior
for children in fatherless homes:
URL: http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/stats.htm
"Children whose fathers are involved in raising them do better in
school, are less likely to get into trouble with the law, and are more
likely to be better parents themselves" from "Fathers Matter" by Jayne
Keedle:
URL: http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/fathersmatter.htm
The SPARC articles archive in general is potentially useful:
URL: http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/articles.htm
"18 percent of the families headed by a single father live in poverty,
although that is still far below the rate for families headed by
single mothers, about 43 percent" from a NYTimes article "changing the
Single-Parent Mix:"
URL: http://www.dadsrights.org/articles/nytimes.893.html
Anne Mitchell, director of Fathers' Rights and Equality Exchange
testimony to the California Focus on Fathers Summit:
URL: http://www.dadsrights.org/testimony/summitapm.html
There are also other articles from Fathers' Rights and Equality
Exchange you may find of interest:
URL: http://www.dadsrights.org/articles/articles.html
A report to the US Commission on Child & Family Welfare is available
here:
URL: http://users.erols.com/afc/usccfw.html
Of particular interest are the following:
"A wealth of research studies have now been conducted to strengthen
the conclusion that divorce, single parenting, and father absence are
strongly related to adverse child and adolescent outcomes."
URL: http://users.erols.com/afc/minority1.htm
"The consequences of father absence for children are typically
detrimental... Whether from too little time with even one parent, too
little income, or both, children too often suffer."
URL: http://users.erols.com/afc/majority2.htm
"85% of prisoners, 78% of high school dropouts, 82% of teenage girls
who become pregnant, the majority of drug and alcohol abusers -- all
come from single-mother-headed households. Less than 1% of any of
these categories come from single-father-headed households."
URL: http://users.erols.com/afc/ourf.html
"Children in single-father care are more likely to enjoy positive
relationships with both their mothers and their fathers than are
children with single mothers" from "The Role of the Father After
Divorce:"
URL: http://www.futureofchildren.org/information2827/information_show.htm?doc_id=75610
"Fatherless children are more likely to drop out of school, have
poorer attendance records, score lower grades, and abuse alcohol or
drugs compared with children whose fathers are in their homes" from
The Future Of Children's Fast Facts:
URL: http://www.futureofchildren.org/info-url2832/info-url_list.htm
"Fathers’ involvement in their children’s schools has a distinct and
independent influence on many of these outcomes, even after
controlling for potentially confounding factors such as the parents’
education, household income, and, in two-parent families, the mothers’
involvement" from the executive summary of National Center for
Education Statistics' Statistical Analysis Report: Fathers'
Involvement in Their Children's Schools:
URL: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs98/fathers/
"A Yale study found that infants living only with their fathers were
two to six months ahead of other infants in personal and social
skills, and that older babies in father-care exhibited similar
advantages. Another survey found that boys in father-custody homes
have higher self-esteem, are more mature, more independent, and less
demanding than boys in mother-custody homes. A recent Danish study
comparing toddlers in single mom and single dad homes found that the
father care children had fewer temper tantrums, were less-sensitive to
criticism, less fearful, less likely to feel lonely, and more likely
to have high self-esteem."
URL: http://www.glennsacks.com/father_care_the.htm
"A meta-analysis of 171 studies comparing mothers' and fathers'
parenting found few significant differences" from "The Many Meanings
of Family and the Role of Fathers:"
URL: http://www.aboutourkids.org/articles/manymeanings.html#presence
Additionally, some resources are available for a cost.
A $6 journal article is available that includes a comparison of
children's longer-term adjustment in father-custody and mother-custody
homes as item CR03, along with other articles you may find
interesting:
URL: http://home.att.net/~rawars/shopcart.htm
Outlining the "positive effects of paternal involvement on both sons'
and daughters' educational and occupational mobility" is the following
book:
"How fathers care for the next generation: A four-decade study"
Snarey, J. R. (1993). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
A synopsis is available, for which free registration is required:
URL: http://www.fathersdirect.com/fatherwork/focus/Default.asp?page=news&sub=92&id=380
This book can be purchased at Amazon.com for $45:
URL: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/067440940X/qid=1055574562/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/103-6612219-7417430?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
Some who may be willing to help in your research:
The Fathers Custody Center includes an email hotline for advice
info@fatherscustody.org :
URL: http://www.fatherscustody.org/
A Yahoo Group for "those interested in preserving the rights of dads
in family court:"
URL: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/altdadsrights/
Psychologists who defend fathers and sell an information kit:
URL: http://www.custodydispute411.com/
I hope you find this information useful, and feel free to request
clarification. If you do require clarification, please allow me to
provide it before you rate this answer.
Hoping I was helpful,
not_you-ga
Search Strategy (on Google):
"father custody"
"father custody results"
"paternal custody"
"social research" |
