F.A.C.T.Information: Fathering
More great information is available through F.A.C.T. See our home page at www.fact.on.ca
Every blade of grass on the mountain,
every drop in the sea,
every cry of a newborn baby,
every prayer to be free,
every hope at the end of a rainbow,
every song ever sung
is a part of the family of woman and man.
And that means everyone.
We are only one river. We are only one sea.
And it flows through you, and it flows through me.
We are only one people. We are one and the same.
We are all one spirit. We are all one name.
We are the father, mother, daughter and son
From the dawn of creation, we are one.
We are one.
by Peter Yarrow, from the song River of Jordan performed by Peter, Paul and Marry
Men's Health America has put together a one page summary of information (PDF format) from various sources that is a compelling summary of the differences that having an involved, biological father in a child's life (with references). It is an excellent presentation.
One of the great papers confirming that the inclusion of both parents under a joint parenting arrangement is in the best interests of children is the meta-analytic study summarised in "Child Adjustment in Joint-Custody Versus Sole-Custody Arrangements: A Meta-Analytic Review" by Robert Bauserman from the Journal of Family Psychology, 2002, Vol. 16, No. 1, p. 91–102. This study was announced in the American Psychological Associations Monitor, a copy of which is http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun02/custody.html and is available from the Journal website in PDF formation at http://www.apa.org/journals/fam/press_releases/march_2002/fam16191.pdf (or here).
Civitas: the Institute for the Study of Civil Society was founded in the UK to "deepen public understanding of the legal, institutional and moral framework that makes a free and democratic society possible." They have done some excellent work about how families are being destroyed and the toll that is taking on children and society. They have produced an excellent study of the impact of the "failed experiment" of fatherless families in and excellent study, available in PDF format, entitled Experiments in Living: The Fatherless Family. This is a great, and true, read. I would suggest it to every one. The study, and more very good material is available from Civitas's website at http://www.civitas.org.uk.
Prolific writer, professor and activist Stephen Baskerville wrote a great article for the Liberty journal, available in PDF format, entitled The Myth of Deadbeat Dads. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in the astounding demonisation of fathers in the US and the rest of the Western world.
The PDF formatted, Child Adjustment in Joint-Custody Versus Sole-Custody Arrangements: A Meta-Analytic Review by Robert Bauserman, Journal of Family Psychology (2002), Vol. 16, No. 1, 91–102 is an important study. It shows that children who have meaningful contact with both parents are significantly (statistically speaking) better off due to the lack of the damage done to children who lose contact with their father through divorce and the actions and inactions of the courts. Although there is only small numbers of sole parental custody cases in the study, it does imdicate that that joint custody is superior there too. Children do need both parents active and part of their lives. This is a journal of the American Psychological Association, so there is some soft-pedalling of the result although the anti-family groups will likely trot out the old myths again, although the study disproves them. The APA has been wonderful in this case and made the paper available to the public at http://www.apa.org/journals/fam/press_releases/march_2002/fam16191.pdf (which is where our link took you). The abstract is below, but I would note that in states were joint custody is really the default decision, conflict between parties has always been lower since there is no gain, and only loss, by a party creating conflict.
The author meta-analyzed studies comparing child adjustment in joint physical or joint legal custody with sole-custody settings, including comparisons with paternal custody and intact families where possible. Children in joint physical or legal custody were better adjusted than children in sole-custody settings, but no different from those in intact families. More positive adjustment of joint-custody children held for separate comparisons of general adjustment, family relationships, self-esteem, emotional and behavioral adjustment, and divorce-specific adjustment. Joint-custody parents reported less current and past conflict than did sole-custody parents, but this did not explain the better adjustment of joint-custody children. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that joint custody can be advantageous for children in some cases, possibly by facilitating ongoing positive involvement with both parents.
Delinquent Behavior, Future Divorce or Nonmarital Childbearing, and Externalizing Behavior Among Offspring: A 14-Year Prospective Study by Robert E. Emery, Mary Waldron and Katherine M. Kitzmann. It is from The Journal of Family Psychology, December 1999 Vol. 13, No. 4, 568-579 and is available from the Journal at http://www.apa.org/journals/fam/fam134568.html. This is another study showing that children are significantly disadvantaged in never-married sole maternal custody or divorced sole-maternal custody than in intact families. In fact, the study does indicate that the damage of divorce is about the same level as never having the children involved with their father. Certainly, raising children outside of the influence of both parents is clearly detrimental to the child -- or "abusive" as that is called these days.
The PDF formatted, Family Structure and Youths' Outcomes: Which Correlations are Causual by Gary Painter, from the Institute of Industrial Relations Working Paper Series, No. 69, September 24, 1999 explores the fact that growing up in family that lacks a biological father is correlated with a number of poor outcomes — and that those correlations are casual.
The PDF formatted, Custody and Couvade: The Importance of Paternal Bonding In the Law of Family Relations by Geoffrey P. Miller, from New York University School of Law, Public Law and Legal Theory Working Paper Series, Working Paper 5, 1999 discusses the perceptions and reality of the involvement of fathers during pregnancy, childbirth, and early childhood.
PERSPECTIVES ON FATHERING: Issues Paper 4 editted by Stuart Birks and Paul Callistert is available in PDF format (only). This paper was produced for the Centre for Public Policy Evaluation in New Zealand. It gives and excellent summary on a number of fatherhood- and fathering-related topics.
The Relationship Between Fatherly Affirmation and a Woman's Self-Esteem, Fear of Intimacy, Comforth with Womanhood and Comfort with Sexuality by Tanya S. Scheffler and Peter J. Naus. This article apeared in the The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, Vol. 8(1) Spring 1999, p. 39-45. The paper describes how women grow up to be more comfortable with themselves if they have on-going and positive affirmation by their father. Good to keep dad around, eh? This document is also available in PDF format.
Deconstructing the Essential Father by Louise B. Silverstein, Ph.D.and Carl F. Auerbach, Ph.D. This contentious article apeared in the American Psychological Association's publication, the Americal Psychologist, Volume 54, Number 6 (June 1999), p. 397-407. The article defines "essential" as being something other than essential, but a rejection of the theories of Blankenhorn and Popenoe instead. It then uses "deconstruction" (a philosophical argument growing out of existentialism that basically says that words have not meaning so any study written down has no meaning except, presumably, this one) to dismiss the massive amounts of material on (1) men, and (2) men and children. It then goes on to use one of the author's small studies on certain ethnic males in a poor attempt to provide some validity to the preposterous, and admitted purely political arguments, of the authors -- which is most strongly anti-marriage. This particular article, along with a previous article supporting paedophilia show the new direction of the American Psychological Association, and goes even further to discreditting the basic fakery of the psychologists. This document is also available in PDF format. Please note: at the request of the American Psychological Association, who apparently visits our site, we have removed this article from our site and provided you with a link to one of the many copies that exist elsewhere. Our use of the article, as with most other sites we found it on, seemed well within the context of the Fair Use exception of 17 USC 107, but the APA redefined the exception (or did they deconstruct it?) and does not feel that the article should be on our site. It wasn't worth fighting about.
A Collection of Articles about this APA article.
Lunacy 101: Questioning the Need for Fathers by Dr. Wade F. Horn, Sunday, July 18, 1999, Jewish World Review. Straignt to the points about the sloppy APA article.
Study denouncing fathers sends danger signals by Kathleen Parker, Sunday, July 18, 1999, The Orlando Sentinel.
They can't put a happy face on fatherlessness by Maggie Gallagher, Sunday, July 25, 1999, Lancaster New Era. This article talks about the goal of the article: "to torpedo the emerging new consensus that intact marriages are important for kids."
The 'deconstructing' of a controversy by Binyamin L. Jolkovsky, Tuesday, July 27, 1999, Jewish World Review. Comments from Louise Silverstein and Carl Auerbach indicating that they are upset that no-one agrees with their biased political agenda.
Feminist "analysis" dismissive of fathers by Charles W. Moore, Thursday, July 29, 1999, Calgary Herald. "I am beginning to wonder if being a card-carrying lunatic facilitates getting published in journals of the American Psychological Association (APA)."
Essentially wrong? by Cathy Young, Friday, July 30, 1999, Jewish World Review. Another look at the article, which figures that its political agenda is more anti-marriage than necessarily anti-father.
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