Fatherhood crisis

[mkmk]

Hi Guys. Do you believe there is a fatherhood crisis in our nation? And if yes, can you tell which racial/ethnic group experiences it the most?

My thoughts:

There is a fatherhood crisis in the U.S, and the crisis is most prevalent in African American families.

I am working on a research paper at my institution and I am finding that the majority of my colleagues and some of my teachers only have a limited knowledge on this issue.

So, what does "Fatherhood" mean? I think fatherhood means that a father should be engaged, involved, and present in the family. Most African American men experience higher rates of incarceration, early deaths, unemployment, and lower levels of education, all of which lead to a lack of a male presence in the family.

This has been my experience with fatherhood in the U.S. Is fatherhood crisis an issue in the UK?

[naklile1]

Hello mkmk,

First of all let me begin by asking where did you obtain that information about there being a "crisis in fatherhood" in the African American community? I would like to see some statistics and numbers supporting that claim. I would advise you to open your eyes, read between the lines and not fall victim to common misconceptions and stereotypes. Did you know that if a black male and a white male commit the same crime, the black male, on average has a sentence twice as long/harsh? I suggest you read this article for a further in depth analysis.

theatlantic.com/health/arch...

Although that sounds like you are speaking very broadly and not necessarily going off of statistics and/or facts, the unemployment and lower levels of education is due to the never ending cycle of discrimination. A white male has, on average, more likeliness to get a job from an interview than a black male. Please be careful about how you generalize next time.

[mkmk in reply to naklile1]

Thanks for you insight.

Not only are the points you raised above factual, but I also agree with you in terms of misconceptions and stereotypes that tend to be associated with African Americans. You mentioned discrimination and its perpetual, negative influence on various aspects of AA families. In essence, it is due to these perpetual, negative cycle/circumstances that African American families tend experience a higher prevalence of the crisis, especially for poor AA families.

Perhaps, reading the journal article below will shed some lights into why there is a fatherhood crisis.

ishib.org/journal/20-1s2/et... ----> (pdf)

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?te...

------> (original site for article. although it does the article to downloaded)

Let me know what you think.

[naklile1 in reply to mkmk]

Very interesting, well supported and depressing at the same time. Initially it sounded as though you were basing your generalizations on common stereotypes. But thank you for providing such evidence, I think it is critical to have the evidence first before making such statements. Part of me was hoping you did not have the evidence for it (if you cant tell I am an African American male) and the other part of me hates when people stereotype/generalize. I still believe that the society we are in has at least some influence over this conclusion.

*sigh*

Well, heres hoping such trends change! Nice chatting with you!

[mkmk in reply to naklile1]

Thanks for you reply. I feel the same way too. As public health student I need to know about circumstances that different racial groups face in our nation, how they are affected, and what is being done to address those issues. I am very interested in understand the cause of the problem and measures I(and others in my field) can take to address the issue, and not think that anyone one else is going to do it for me(others in my field)

Again, thank you for your insight.