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Father Involvement In African Americans

Decent Essays

Literature review

Father involvement
There is a lot of research done on the reasons for early sexuality in African American women. Though there is no single factor that causes early sexual activity, many attribute it to the absence of strong father figure, this is addressed in a study done by Vicki Ellison Burns, “Living without a strong father figure: A context for teen mothers’ experience of having becoming sexually active”. Burns cited Ellis et al. (2003), father absence was a powerful and overriding risk factor for early-onset sexual activity and subsequent teen pregnancy. Father presence provided a major protective effect against these behaviors, even when other risk factors were present. In Ellison’s study, she obtained data by interviewing …show more content…

The stress associated with the inability to bond in satisfactory ways with a father or father figure may constitute the same kind of stress that a physically absent father does, resulting in earlier onset of sexual activity and the risk of ensuing pregnancy. Assessment of the quality of a paternal-child relationship may be as important as whether or not such a relationship exists.”(p. …show more content…

Often times the young African American mothers end up being young African American single mothers. The father’s involvement impacts many aspects of young African American mothers’ parenting. In a study by Cynthia O Lashley, Sydney L Hans, and Linda G Henson “Young African American mothers’ changing perceptions of their infants during the transition into parenthood”, Lashley et al. included research from McElroy & Moore stating “although most African American teenage mothers are not married to their children’s fathers, there is great variability in the patterns of involvement young men have with their families”. According to Gee and Rhodes, Fathers are usually more involved close after birth, however involvement decreases as the child gets older (Lashley 482). Because the young parents are not married and the pregnancies are often unplanned there is a lot of strain on their couple relationship and the relationship could diminish due to the stress of parenthood, making it easier for the father to be non-present in the child’s

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