The author examines the father–son relationship from both ecological and psychodynamic perspectives. The sociohistorical and cultural forces influencing African American men and their families are explored with regard to the role of fathers. The author presents theory and research to challenge the view that African American fathers are absent or uninvolved and that such absence has pathological consequences for male development. Suggestions for counseling and psychotherapy with African American men and their families are provided.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AdamsP. L., & HorovitzJ. H. (1980). Psychopathology and fatherlessness in poor boys. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 10(3), 135–143.
2.
AllenW. R. (1981). Moms, dads, and boys: Race and sex differences in the socialization of male children. In GaryL. E. (Ed.), Black men (pp. 99–114). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
3.
BadainesJ. (1976). Identification, imitation, and sex-role preference in father-present and father-absent black and Chicano boys. Journal of Psychology, 92, 15–24.
4.
BernardJ. (1992). The good-provider role: Its rise and fall. In KimmelM. S., & MessnerM. A. (Eds.), Men's lives (p. 203–221). New York: Macmillan.
5.
BlassingameJ. W. (1979). The slave community: Plantation life in the antebellum South.New York: Oxford University Press.
6.
BlosP. (1985). Son and father: Before and beyond the Oedipus complex.New York: Free Press.
7.
BrownS. V. (1983). The commitment and concerns of black adolescent parents. Social Work Research and Abstracts, 19(4), 27–34.
8.
CampbellA.ConverseP., & RodgersW. (1976). The quality of American life.New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
9.
CarriganT.ConnellB., & LeeJ. (1987). Toward a new sociology of masculinity. In BrodH. (Ed.), The making of masculinities: The new men's studies (pp. 63–100). Boston: Allen & Unwin.
10.
CazenaveN. A. (1979). Middle-income black fathers: An analysis of the provider role. Family Coordinator, 28, 583–592.
11.
CazenaveN. A. (1984). Race, socioeconomic status, and age: The social context of American masculinity. Sex Roles, 11, 639–656.
12.
ConnellR. W. (1987). Gender and power: Society, the person and sexual politics.Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
13.
ConnorM. E. (1986). Some parenting attitudes of young black fathers. In LewisR. A., & SaltR. E. (Eds.), Men in families (pp. 159–168). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
14.
ConnorM. E. (1988). Teenage fatherhood: Issues confronting young black males. In GibbsJ. T. (Ed.), Young, black, and male in America: An endangered species (pp. 188–218). New York: Auburn House.
15.
CushmanP. (1992). Psychotherapy to 1992: A historically situated interpretation. In FreedheimD. K. (Ed.), History of psychotherapy: A century of change (pp. 21–64). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
16.
DavisA., & HavighurstR. J. (1946). Social class and color differences in child rearing. American Sociological Review, 11, 698–710.
17.
DavisJ. A. (1974). Justification for no obligation: Views of black males toward crime and the criminal law. Issues in Criminology, 9(2), 69–87.
18.
EarlL., & LohmannN. (1978). Absent fathers and black male children. Social Work, 23, 413–415.
19.
EshlemanJ. R. (1985). The family: An introduction (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
20.
FeldmanL. B. (1990). Fathers and fathering. In MethR. L, & PasickR. S. (Eds.), Men in therapy: The challenge of change (pp. 88–107). New York: Guilford.
21.
FileneP. (1987). The secrets of men's history. In BrodH. (Ed.), The making of masculinities: The new men's studies (pp. 103–119). Boston: Allen & Unwin.
22.
FoucaultM. (1978). The history of sexuality, volume I: An introduction.New York: Vintage Books.
23.
FrazierE. F. (1948). The Negro family in the United States.New York: Citadel Press.
24.
GenoveseE. D. (1976). Roll, Jordan, roll: The world the slaves made.New York: Vintage Books.
25.
GlickP. C. (1981). A demographic picture of black families. In McAdooH. P. (Ed.), Black families (pp. 106–126). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
26.
GordonB. (1990). Being a father. In MethR. L., & PasickR. S. (Eds.), Men in therapy: The challenge of change (pp. 247–260). New York: Guilford.
27.
GutmanH. G. (1976). The black family in slavery and freedom, 1750–1925.New York: Pantheon Books.
28.
HarrisonA. (1981). Attitudes towards procreation among black adults. In McAdooH. P. (Ed.), Black families (pp. 199–208). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
29.
HendricksL. E. (1981). Black unwed adolescent fathers. In GaryL. E. (Ed.), Black men (pp. 131–138). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
30.
HerdtG. (1989). Father presence and ritual homosexuality: Paternal deprivation and masculine development in Melanesia reconsidered. Ethos, 17, 326–370.
31.
HetheringtonE. (1966). Effects of paternal absence on sex-typed behaviors in Negro and white preadolescent males. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4, 87–91.
32.
HuntL. L., & HuntJ. G. (1975). Race and the father–son correlation: The conditional relevance of father absence for the orientations and identities of adolescent boys. Social Problems, 35–52.
33.
HydeB. L., & TexidorM. S. (1988). A description of the fathering experience among black fathers. Journal of National Black Nurses' Association, 2, 67–78.
34.
IsaacsM. S., & LeonG. H. (1987). Race, marital dissolution and visitation: An examination of adaptive family strategies. Journal of Divorce, 11(2), 17–31.
35.
JacobsJ. W. (1982). The effect of divorce on fathers: An overview of the literature. American Journal of Psychiatry, 139, 1235–1241.
36.
KandelD. B. (1971). Race, maternal authority, and adolescent aspiration. American Journal of Sociology, 76, 999–1020.
37.
KimmelM. S. (1987). The contemporary “crisis” of masculinity in historical perspective. In BrodH. (Ed.), The making of masculinities: The new men's studies (pp. 121–153). Boston: Allen & Unwin.
38.
LambM. E. (1980). Observational studies in the family setting. In PedersonF. (Ed.), The father–infant relationship (pp. 21–43). New York: Praeger.
39.
LambM. E. (1986). The father's role: Applied perspectives.New York: Wiley Interscience.
40.
LeowaldH. (1951). Ego and reality. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 10–18.
LongabaughR. (1973). Mother behavior as a variable moderating the effects of father absence. Ethos, 1, 456–465.
43.
MadhubutiR. (1990). Black men: Obsolete, single, dangerous?Chicago: Third World Press.
44.
MarableM. (1983). How capitalism underdeveloped black America.Boston: South End Press.
45.
MasseyG. (1991). The flip side of teen mothers: A look at teen fathers. In BowserB. P. (Ed.), Block male adolescents: Parenting and education in community context (pp. 117–128). Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
46.
McAdooJ. L. (1981). Black father and child interactions. In GaryL. E. (Ed.), Black men (pp. 115–130). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
47.
McAdooJ. L. (1986). A black perspective on the father's role in child development. Marriage and Family Review, 9, 117–133.
48.
McAdooJ. L. (1993). The roles of African American fathers: An ecological perspective. Families in Society, 74, 28–35.
49.
MurrayC. (1984). Losing ground: American social policy, 1950–1980.New York: Basic Books.
50.
PleckE. J., & PleckJ. H. (Eds.). (1980). The American man.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
51.
Price-BonhamS., & SkeenP. (1979). A comparison of black and white fathers with implications for parent education. Family Coordinator, 28, 53–59.
52.
PruettK. D. (1987). The nurturing father.New York: Warner.
53.
RadinN. (1982). Primary caregiving and role sharing fathers of preschoolers. In LambM. E. (Ed.), Non-traditional families: Parenting and child development (pp. 173–204). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
54.
RayS. A., & McLoydV. C. (1986). Fathers in hard times: The impact of unemployment and poverty on paternal and marital relations. In LambM. E. (Ed.), The father's role: Applied perspectives (pp. 339–383). New York: John Wiley.
55.
RubinR. H. (1974). Adult male absence and the self-attitudes of black children. Child Study Journal, 4, 33–46.
56.
SagiA. (1982). Antecedents and consequences of various degrees of paternal involvement in child rearing: The Israeli project. In LambM. E. (Ed.), Non-traditional families: Parenting and child development (pp. 205–232). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
SheldonA., & FoxG. L. (1983). The impact of economic uncertainty on children's roles within the family. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Study of Social Problems, Detroit, MI.
59.
ShinnM. (1978). Father absence and children's cognitive development. Psychological Bulletin, 85, 295–324.
60.
StaplesR. (1988). The emerging majority: Resources for nonwhite families in the United States. Family Relations, 37, 348–354.
61.
SteamsP. (1979). Be a man! Males in modern society.New York: Holmes and Meier.
62.
SullivanM. L. (1986). Ethnographic research on young fathers and parenting.New York: Vera Institute.
63.
TaylorR. L. (1976). Black youth and psychosocial development. Journal of Block Studies, 6, 353–371.
64.
UngerR. K. (1989). Sex, gender and epistemology. In CrawfordM., & GentryM. (Eds.), Gender and thought: Psychological perspectives (pp. 17–35). New York: Springer-Verlag.
65.
VoydanoffP. (1983). Unemployment and family stress. In LopataH. Z., & PleckJ. H. (Eds.), Research in the interweave of social roles: Vol. 3. Families and jobs (pp. 239–250). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
66.
WeeksJ. (1981). Sex politics and society: The regulation of sexuality since 1800.London: Longman.
67.
WilkinsonC. B., & O'ConnorW. A. (1977). Growing up male in a black single-parent family. Psychiatric Annals, 7(7), 50–59.
