I came across a research paper that was done on the effects of father involvement. This research basically focused on the kind of influence of a father being involved in their child's life could have on the child's development. The research paper also states the impact on the father's as men in their adult life and also on their spouse or partner relationship.
Father involvement influences cognitive development, emotional development and well being, social development, and a decrease in negative child development outcomes such as delinquent behaviour. As a father being involved in their child's life, they are more self confident and effective as parents. The article goes on to speak about how a co-parental relationship has indirect effects on the child.
I find this research to be interesting because there are many fathers out there who do not take their role seriously, and therefore having a life long effect on the child. While on the other hand some woman do not think they need the man to be in the child's life and that they will raise the child themselves. Either is not beneficial to the child, it is best that a child be raised by both parents. Without either parent their are life long effects on the child, children should be able to enjoy life with no worries rather than wondering why their father is not around and is it their fault. It was also interesting to see not only is the child affected by the father's involvement but also the father's life is positively affected by their involvement in their child's life.
Web link
http://www.ecdip.org/docs/pdf/IF%20Father%20Res%20Summary%20(KD).pdf
Great choice in research topic. I think that if more research was done in this area, and the results were viewed as a serious note, all would benefit. I believe that children really do benefit from a positive male influence within their lives and I am going to bookmark your link for future reference.
ReplyDeleteKiendra,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. This topic is very sensitive to me because I am single mother raising my daughter by myself. I know the importance of have your father in your life because my parents have been married for over 50 years. I have always had my father in my life. I have seen the affects of not having a father in your life through my friends who grew up in a single parent home. I did not want my daughter to grow up like that, but her father has chosen not be a part of her life. It was difficult for me to accept that, but I am glad that she has other men in her life who represent a father figure. She is blessed to have a grandfather, uncles, and cousins who play that role in her life. I see through the violence in the streets of Chicago how important it is to have a father figure in your life. I have talked to a lot of young people this year and they have expressed that they turned to the streets because their mother was always working and not at home and they were looking for attention from other places and they found it in the streets. The gang told them that they will be their father and brother that they were looking for and that they will always have their back. It is very sad that men do not understand the importance of their role as a father and choose to make babies, but not take care of them. I plan on reading your link to the research article at a later time.
Another great choice
ReplyDeleteI think it is a great idea for more research to be done on this topic to help those children who are without their father's live through it stronger than they might have without the research. Being a mother that after divorce had to raise her children alone without support from their father did it alone but I always knew that this would have some type of effect on them in the future.