Limb 1

Aurora Ione Limb

Professor Christy Trotter

English 1201

January 18th 2019

Fatherless Children: Causes and Effects

Being the eldest of three in a single parent household, I know first hand the economic,

social, and psychological effects it had of myself and my family. I remember my mother working

three jobs, my brother and I hopping from one babysitter to the next. I seem to be fairly well

adjusted, however, my mother has fallen into alcoholism and abusive tendencies. My brother has

been in and out of psychewards since he was nine. I know that perhaps some of this is

uncontrollable, such as my brothers mental disabilities. However, I also feel that not having a

second parent dramatically affected my family's ability to push forward through adversity.

I’m very curious as to the statistical data on the effects of of fatherless homes on all

levels. How does it affect the ability of the mother to provide? What effect does it have on the

children, psychologically, socially, and economically? How does it affect those children's ability

to have functioning relationships in the future? I know for myself personally, as a result of my

father not being in my life, I have major abandonment issues.

I feel many children that grow up in “broken homes” feel just that- a little broken. I know

statistically 1 in 4 children grow up in fatherless homes. I know that children that grow up in

fatherless homes are more likely to drop out or struggle academically. I believe this is a problem

that is drastically underlooked in our society. I believe the importance of the family unit is

decreasing and it’s impacting the children negatively. I think we need to start paying more

attention to this issue and figuring out the underlying causes. I think ultimately, society is made
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out of individual family units. So if the individual family units aren’t functioning- how can we

expect the greater society as a whole to function properly?

I’m curious to know how are children raised in fatherless homes psychologically and

socially affected? What are the root causes of fatherless homes in America? In order to answer

this question, I’m going to need to delve into psychological and social data concerning fatherless

homes. Is there an increase in anxiety and depression amongst this subsection of the population?

What about education statistics? Is it true that they are more likely to drop out? How does the

affect their ability to economically sustain themselves in the future? What are the possible causes

for the increase in fatherless homes? I’m going to be delving into some books surrounding

psychological statistics on the matter and personal memoirs on how children feel affected in

adulthood.