Father Involvement

Family used to be a single unit, consisting of a husband, wife and children. This unit was widely thought as a group based on marriage and biological parenthood as sharing a common residence and

social unit of society. The family unit helps each member learn about and get used to social

A family consists of a group of interacting individuals related by blood, marriage, cohabitation, or adoption who interdependently perform relevant functions by fulfilling expected roles. (Edelman, Kudzma, & Mandle, 2014, p. 150)

In Fatherneed, Pruett (2000) reported on a scientific study that linked positive father involvement with lowered levels of disruptive behavior, acting out, depression, and telling lies; obeying parents, being kind to others, and being responsible; fewer behavioral problems in young boys; and girls being happier, more confident, and willing to try new things (p. 52).

A family is “a set of people related by blood, marriage or some other agreed-upon relationship, or adoption, who share the primary responsibility for reproduction and caring for members of society.” (Schaefer, 2009) A family is considered a social institution. This social institution is one that can be applied to all three sociological theories which are functionalism, conflict, and interactionism.

In situation like this, it's very important to be patient, sensitive and understanding for the mother’s feelings and Cameron’s needs; bearing in mind the mother’s worries, especially for mother first time leaving her daughter in daycare. It is very important to start working on build healthy partnership relation in caring Cameron with the mother based on respect and understanding. Helping the mother to feel welcome and comfort, let her know that she may call during the day to ask about Cameron any time, sometimes sharing some good photos with her, for interesting things that happened with Cameron during the day, which may help the mother feel good about Cameron. A friendly relationship should help to communicate with the mother openly. Remember

Fast forwarding, the myriad benefits to children of having a positively involved father is now well documented. According to Kyle Pruett of Yale University, when fathers are engaged, preschool children are more likely to explore their environment and to try new things, they are more “patient, curious, and confident” when they show up for school, and they demonstrate “substantially higher cognitive skills.” Pruett goes on to say that research now shows “beyond a shadow of a doubt” the vital role that fathers play in the healthy development of children and that “the closer the connection between father and child, the better off they both are . . .“ (2000, pp.

Most mothers and fathers love their kids with all their heart. As a child begins to age, parents begin to influence their kids and will mold them as they mature. However, parents without much care for their kids will leave a long-term effect on their children and in this study, the main impact is the father.

Ellis, Yasmine S. Khan, Victor W. Harris, Ricki McWilliams, and Diana Converse states that fathers have a huge impact on children's well-being. They start off stating that “American families have changed dramatically over the last century. Currently, about one half of all children in the United States will live apart from their fathers some time during their childhood because their parents have separated (Smith, n.d.). Of all children born in the year 2000 to married parents, 50 percent will experience the divorce of their parents before they reach their 18th birthday (Fagan, 2000). In addition, the proportion of births to unmarried women has increased greatly in recent decades, rising from 5 percent in 1960 to 41 percent in 2011 (Child Trend Data Bank, 2013).” Fathers are different from mothers in how they play with their children, mothers more likely nurture their children in contrast because fathers spend more time engaging in stimulating playful activities and promoting and advising independence. When you have fathers that spend time with you at a young age will most likely develop greater abilities to start school with higher levels of academic readiness according to Allen and Daly in 2007 and “throughout development, high levels of father involvement have also been associated with greater child tendencies to be more patient and have increased aptitudes for handling the ongoing stresses associated with schooling and

The early childhood issue of concern I chose to focus on was father involvement. The article, Father Involvement During Early Childhood and Its Association with Children’s Early Learning: A Meta Analysis, focuses on the increasing concern of the importance of a fathers’ influence on children’s development. A father’s involvement includes the quantity of partaking in positive activities, such as reading and playing outside, and characteristics of parenting quality (McWayne et al., 2013). Within early childhood, ages three to eight, young children are faced with various developmental encounters that involve social, emotional and cognitive experiences within their school and home environment (2013). The article describes a study based on how a

Bronfenbrenner 's ecological system depicts the importance of the microsystem because it is where the child has direct contact with its caregivers. Therefore, proximal process interactions are vital when promoting positive development, if they are good experiences. In addition, fathers ' interactions with their children in the Microsystems level differ from the mothers due to their personality, which enhances their child 's development. It promotes positive emotional regulation because fathers ' engage in rough-and-tumble play and discipline their child distinctively (Pleck, 2007). Recent studies on high levels of father involvement demonstrate positive outcomes for their child 's social and emotional development. One must also take into account the father 's background that will affect the child 's outcomes. Some aspects taken into account are their level of education, income status, parenting style and family dynamics.

The irreplaceable role that a mother plays in a child’s life has been under the microscope for years. There are many that feel that in order for a child to grow up “normally”, the relationship they have with their mother is a vital indication as to how their life will unfold. It has been said that the relationship a child has with their mother plays a big role in how they form relationships with others and if those relationships will be healthy. While the involvement of a mother in a child’s life is very important, one could say that the role a father plays in a child’s life holds just as much potency.

But the hope lies in the fact that children with involved fathers do better across every measure of child’s well-being than their peers in father-absent homes. In a study examining father involvement with 134 children of adolescent mothers over the first 10 years of life, researchers found that father-child contact was associated with better socio-emotional and academic functioning. The results indicated that children with more involved fathers experienced fewer behavioral problems and scored higher on reading achievement. This study showed the significance of the role of fathers in the lives of at-risk children, even in case of nonresident

Growing up, I had the opportunity to live two different lives: a rich life and a poor life. How you may ask? Well, when I was a little girl, my mother and father got a divorce and gained joint custody over my sister and I. This meant that I had to live with my mother one week and my father the next week. Although my mother and father were both dentists and made a good amount of money, all of that changed when I was in elementary school. My mother got into a terrible car accident that caused her to become permanently disabled. Unable to work, my mother got on government aid programs, which included Welfare and Medicaid. Because of this unfortunate event, I had the opportunity to see how both sides lived—the poor and the rich life.

There are many different definitions about what the family is. Different theoretical positions influence these variations. For example, the functionalist sociologist George Peter Murdock defines the family as “a social group characterized by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain