Jewish World Review July 7, 1999 /23 Tamuz, 5759
Lunacy 101: Questioning the Need for Fathers
By Dr. Wade F. Horn
JUST WHEN I THOUGHT it was safe to admit I am a psychologist, the
American
Psychological Association (APA) goes and does something nutty yet again.
Last year the APA published a study
advocating that the term child sexual abuse be replaced, at least in some
cases, with adult-child sex, a more "value neutral term." Fortunately, after
several months of defending the publication of that study, the APA came to
its senses and acknowledged that its not in the best interests of children to
define pedophilia down (boy, now there's courage for you!).
No sooner had I completed my mental victory dance in celebration of this
return to
sanity within the APA, then what should appear on my desk but the June 1999
issue of the American Psychologist. Now, the American Psychologist is no
obscure journal; in fact, it is the only APA journal sent to every member of
the American Psychological Association. It is used routinely to espouse the
viewpoint of the APA leadership.
So what was so upsetting about this issue of the American Psychologist?
In its
infinite wisdom, the APA decided to publish as its lead article, a broadside
against the
fatherhood movement -- just in time for Father's Day. They should have just
sent a tie.
Titled "Deconstructing the Essential Father" and penned by Louise B.
Silverstein and Carl F. Auerbach, both of Yeshiva University, the authors of
the article make two
arguments: First, fathers are really non-essential to the healthy
development of children. Second, marriage stinks.
The authors begin their first argument by stating that their "research
experience has
led us to conceptualize fathering in a way that is very different from the
neoconservative
[Read: anyone who thinks fathers matter] perspective." And what is their
vast research
experience? Over the past six years they have studied the fathering
experience of 200 -- yes, a whole 200! -- men. Now there's a representative,
national sample for you!
While acknowledging that "the presence of a father may have positive
effects on the
well-being of boys," two paragraphs later the authors come to the stunning
conclusion that "...the empirical literature does not support the idea that
fathers make a unique and essential contribution to child development."
There you go! Dads you don't make a difference! So don't worry about
rushing
home to play ball with your kid in the backyard, you won't be missed.
According to these two psychologists, all that is simply non-essential!
What the authors apparently missed, of course, is two decades of
research attesting to the impact of father absence on the well-being of
children, including increased risk for school failure, emotional and
behavioral problems, juvenile crime, and teenage pregnancy.
But you don't have to take my word for it. How about the word of Cornell
University professor Urie Bronfenbrenner, one of the most eminent
developmental
psychologists of our time, who wrote: "Controlling for factors such as low
income, children growing up in [father absent] households are at a greater
risk for experiencing a variety of behavioral and educational problems,
including extremes of hyperactivity and withdrawal; lack of attentiveness in
the classroom; difficulty in deferring gratification; impaired academic
achievement; school misbehavior; absenteeism; dropping out; involvement in
socially alienated peer groups, and the so-called 'teenage syndrome' of
behaviors that tend to hang together -- smoking, drinking, early and frequent
sexual experience, and in the more extreme cases, drugs, suicide, vandalism,
violence, and criminal acts." Ah, that Dr. Bronfenbrenner, he must be some
kinda right wing nutcase.
But the authors of this diatribe against the fatherhood movement are not
content to
merely toss fatherhood into the trash can of irrelevancy, No, not by a long
shot. The
authors go on to suggest that fathers are actually downright dangerous.
The authors warn, for example, of "the potential costs of father
presence," and
especially their propensity to fritter away family resources on "gambling,
purchasing alcohol, cigarettes, or other nonessential commodities" thereby
"actually increasing women's workload and stress level."
The real target, however, is not fathers, but marriage. In an
extraordinary section
criticizing the idea that marriage matters, the authors assert that they can
not find "any
empirical support that marriage enhances fathering or that marriage civilizes
men and
protects children."
Really? No evidence whatsoever? So all those studies showing that
married fathers, on average, spend more time with their children than
unmarried fathers are simply a figment of the collective imagination of
time-use researchers. And I guess the two decades of research showing that
marriage leads to men's lower use of alcohol and drugs and greater work
effort is mere fabrication. And, of course, the hundreds, if not thousands,
of studies showing that children fare best in two-parent married households
was simply made up by those nasty old "neoconservatives."
In fact, the authors make the stunning assertion that the decline of
marriage has
actually been a good thing because studies show a decline in the number of
women murdered by their intimate partners between 1976 and 1996. Note the
use of the word partners, not husbands. And, of course, no mention is made
of the fact that child abuse rates have tripled in that same time period, but
I quibble.
The article then goes on to argue that divorce is not really all that
bad for children.
As evidence, they cite the work of Paul Amato of the University of Nebraska
who has
reported that "...although children from low-conflict marriages are
negatively effected by
divorce, the adjustment of children in high-conflict marriages actually
improves after
divorce."
What these authors leave out, however, is that Paul Amato estimates that
only about 30% of all divorces in America are the result of high-conflict
marriages. Indeed, rather than a defense of divorce, Paul Amato concludes
that in the large majority of cases of divorce, it is better for the children
for the parents to stay married. It doesn't seem to bother these authors
that they neglect to mention Paul Amato's actual conclusion.
The point of all this silliness is to advocate against providing any
funding for
programs that support fathers or marriage. Indeed, the authors assert that
any attempt to use government resources in this way is, by definition,
discriminates against mothers and "alternative family forms." Exactly why
spending billions of dollars to support father absent and non-married
households is not discrimination against fathers and marriage, these
enlightened psychologists don't say.
So there you have it. Dads don't matter. In fact, they are downright
dangerous.
And the only thing marriage does is promote domestic violence against women.
Why?
Because these two psychologists say so, that's why. After all, they have
studied 200 fathers!
So here's my question for you, dear readers: Should I continue my
membership in the APA so that I can keep on eye on what they are up to, or
should I resign out of protest for their publishing this kind of junk
science? E-mail me by clicking below and let me know what you think.
I'll keep you posted on the results in a future
JWR contributor Dr. Wade F. Horn is President of the
National Fatherhood Initiative and
co-author of The
Better Homes and Gardens New Father Book. Send your question about dads,
children or
fatherhood to him C/O JWR
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